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The Nine Planets
Name
Date
Vocabulary
STUDENT RESOURCE 1.1
INFORMATION SHEET
asteroids thousands of rocky objects that
orbit the Sun
Most asteroids orbit in a belt between
the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. More
than 90,000 asteroids have been
identified. Only about 200 are more
than 100 kilometers in diameter.
comet object made of frozen gases, dust,
and rock, that orbits the Sun
Comets have long, bright tails when
they pass near the Sun. The tails always
point away from the Sun, no matter
what direction the comet is moving.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.
meteor rock that enters and burns up in
Earth’s atmosphere
Meteors are often called shooting
stars because they flash across the night
sky in a bright streak.
meteorite rock that strikes the surface of
a planet or moon
Meteorites can cause impact craters
where they hit. The Barringer Crater in
Arizona was formed by a meteorite. It
is about 1.2 kilometers in diameter and
200 meters deep.
1. Display the posters of the planets. Make copies of
Student Resource 1.1, Vocabulary, and distribute to
students. Discuss the definitions with students as these
words come up throughout the section.
planet a large object in space that
revolves around a nearby star
There are nine planets in our solar
system. In order from the Sun, they are
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
scale model a model that correctly shows
relationships between size and distance,
but is smaller or larger than the objects
it represents
Scale models are often used in science
to study very large or very small objects.
solar system the Sun and the objects
that orbit it, including the nine planets
The solar system formed some 4.6
billion years ago when a cloud of
gas and dust contracted into a large,
spinning disk. The Sun formed in the
hot, dense center of the disk. The rest
of the gas and dust eventually formed
planets.
3. Give students time to examine the posters of the planets. Make copies of Student Resource 1.2, Our Solar
System, and distribute to students. Have students take
turns describing a characteristic of a planet or other
solar system object of their choice.
EXPLORING SPACE • SECTION 1 THE PLANETS • 11
Student Resource 1.1 (p. 11)
Name
Date
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.
Mostly made of ice.
Comets grow tails when passing near the Sun.
Tails always point away from Sun.
–
Highly variable
–
–
smallest planet of all, made of rock and ice,
tilted orbit; Its moon Charon is half its size.
Comets
*All values are averaged and rounded. **Numbers may change as new moons are discovered around gas giants.
Varies; less
than 100 to 30
million years
248 years
6.4 days
0
1
2,300
5,906,000,000
Varies from
940 km to less
than 1 km
165 years
16 hours
6
Pluto
4 • EXPERIENCE SCIENCE
49,532
4,498,000,000
Neptune
13**
gas giant, rotates backward compared
to most other planets, icy insides,
rotates on its side, very cold (–215ºC)
11
17 hours
84 years
Student Resource 1.2 (p. 12)
51,118
2,871,000,000
Uranus
12 • EXPLORING SPACE • SECTION 1 THE PLANETS
120,536
1,427,000,000
27**
gas giant, strong east-west winds,
giant swirling red storm, strong magnetic field
gas giant, less dense than water (could float),
five main rings, thousands of small rings; Its moon
Titan is bigger than Mercury and has an atmosphere.
29 years
10.6 hours
Thousands
12 years
Saturn
35**
More than 90,000 have been found and numbered.
Some moons of planets may be captured asteroids.
Varies; largest
takes 4.6 years
10 hours
Varies
0
1
Jupiter
142,984
778,000,000
Asteroids
63**
rocky planet, red surface, polar ice caps, seasons,
volcanoes (including largest in solar system), canyons
6,794
Varies from
940 km to less
than 1 km
228,000,000
Varies; most lie
between Mars
and Jupiter
2
0
25 hours
687 days
(about 2 years)
Mars
Some
have, most
do not
rocky planet, land and ocean areas, polar ice caps,
varied land features, only planet with life or liquid water
365.25 days
12,756
150,000,000
Earth
1
0
24 hours
(1 day)
rocky planet, rotates backward compared to
other planets, hottest planet (over 450ºC), covered in
thick clouds, atmosphere of carbon dioxide, no water
225 days
243 days
0
12,104
108,000,000
Venus
0
rocky planet, steep cliffs, cratered surface, extreme
temperature changes (–173ºC night to 427ºC day)
surface temperature 6,100 K, mostly hydrogen and
helium, makes energy by fusing hydrogen into helium
–
88 days
59 days
25 days
–
0
0
–
695,500
0
58,000,000
Sun
Mercury
4,880
Features
Period of
Revolution
(in Earth days
or years)*
Period of
Rotation
(in Earth
days)*
Rings
Moons
Diameter
(kilometers)*
Distance
from Sun
(kilometers)*
Object
gas giant, strong winds, very cold (–235ºC);
Its moon Triton orbits opposite to Neptune’s rotation.
STUDENT RESOURCE 1.2
INFORMATION SHEET
Our Solar System
2. Write the following on the board: My Very Educated
Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas. Point out that the
first letter of each word corresponds to the order of the
planets from the Sun. Have students write the names of
the planets in order from the Sun.
4.Ask students to write “Rocky Planets” and “Gas Giants”
on a sheet of paper. Tell them to classify the planets as
either rocky or gas giants, using information on the
Resource page. (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Pluto
are rocky planets. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
are gas giants.) Tell students that the gas giants may
have rocky cores. However, these cores have not been
observed directly.
Making Model Planets
Name
Date
Making Model Planets
STUDENT RESOURCE 1.3
ACTIVITY SHEET
Draw a circle 1 cm in diameter on the posterboard to represent
Earth. Use the table below to determine the sizes of the other
planets in your scale model.
Planet or Sun
Sun
Mercury
1,391,900
Diameter Relative to
Earth (cm)
0.38
Venus
12,104
0.95
Earth
12,756
1.00
6,794
0.53
Jupiter
142,984
11.21
Saturn
120,536
9.45
Uranus
51,118
4.01
Neptune
49,572
3.89
2,320
0.18
Pluto
Objective
• Students create scale models that show the sizes of the planets.
Materials
For each pair
2
2 sh.
2
•
1
*compasses, drawing
(optional)
•
1 sh. *construction paper,
white
1
craft sticks
*Not provided in kit
1
*marker, yellow
toy car
*markers, colored
ruler, metric
1 pr. *scissors
EXPLORING SPACE • SECTION 1 THE PLANETS • 13
For the teacher
construction
paper, white
30 cm string
Student Resource 1.3 (p. 13)
Pairs
109
4,879
Mars
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.
Actual Diameter (km)
30 minutes
Student Resource
• 1.3 Making Model Planets
Inquiry Focus
• Use Models
*tape, clear
1. Discuss scale models.
Show students the toy car. Tell them that the car is
a scale model. A scale model shows the relationship
between sizes and distances, but it is smaller or larger
than the objects it shows. Scale models are often used
in science to study very large or very small objects.
Ask: What other objects have you seen scale
models of? (model trains, airplanes, buildings) Ask:
What kinds of very large or very small things
(in science) would be good to study using scale
models? (Sample answers: solar system, galaxies,
oceans, storm systems, atoms, cells) Tell students that
they will make scale models of the planets.
2. Distribute the Student Resource.
Make copies of Student Resource 1.3, Making Model
Planets, and distribute to students. Place students in
pairs and distribute materials.
SECTION 1 THE PLANETS • 5
Making Model Planets (continued)
3. Explain relative diameter in the model.
Begin the activity by reviewing the information on the
Resource page. Say that in the model, Earth will be
1 cm in diameter. Explain that “diameter relative to
Earth” means the diameter of a planet compared to the
diameter of Earth. Ask: Which objects are smaller
than Earth (have a relative diameter less than
1 cm)? (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Pluto) Which objects
are larger than Earth (have a relative diameter
greater than 1 cm)? (Sun, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
Neptune)
A Place the compass in the middle of the
diameter line.
4. Students draw scale models.
Tell students that, because the Sun is so large, there
will be just one Sun in the model. For the other objects,
have students draw each planet one at a time. They
should start by drawing a line on the construction paper
equal to the planet’s diameter relative to Earth. Check
students’ ability to measure centimeters and millimeters
and assist as needed. After diameter lines are drawn,
have students draw a circle around the line by hand or
with the compass. (Help students use compasses safely
as needed.)
5. Students cut out models.
Using the planets posters as a guide, have students
color the planets, then cut them out. Students can then
cut strings of different lengths and tape them to the
planets. Help students tape together two craft sticks in
the shape of an “X.” The planets can be hung from the
craft sticks as mobiles.
Safety
Step 4: If available, have
students use safety compasses,
without sharp points.
6. Display the models.
A student pair that finishes early may draw, cut out, and
color a large yellow Sun, or you may do this yourself.
Hang the mobiles around this Sun.
Assessment
Ask: Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, has a
diameter relative to Earth of 0.40. Is Titan larger or
smaller than Earth? (smaller) Titan’s diameter relative
to Earth’s Moon is 1.5. Is Titan larger or smaller than
the Moon? (larger)
6 • EXPERIENCE SCIENCE
Find Planets in the Sky
Name
Date
20 minutes in class, followed
by at-home observations
STUDENT RESOURCE 1.4
HOMEWORK SHEET
Find Planets in the Sky
Imagine a sky map as the inside of a bowl. Hold the “bowl”
above your head and look up. The center of the map is straight
up and the circle is the horizon. Because the map shows the sky
above you, east and west are reversed. If you look south and hold
the map overhead, east and west will be correct.
Objective
•
Students observe planets in the night sky.
Draw each planet on the sky map. Write the time to look for it. Is
it low, medium, or high in the sky? (Low is near the circle edge.)
Go outside at night with an adult. Use this map to find planets.
Planet:
Time:
Planet:
Time:
Planet:
Time:
look up
WEST
SOUTH
* East and west read correctly when sky map is in use.
Parent / Guardian signature:
14 • EXPLORING SPACE • SECTION 1 THE PLANETS
Student Resource 1.4 (p. 14)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.
NORTH
EAST
Whole Class
Materials
For the teacher
Student Resource
• 1.4 Find Planets in the Sky
•
Inquiry Focus
• Observe
*overhead projector
In Advance
• Prepare a transparency of Student Resource 1.4, as described on
page 2.
1. Introduce the sky map.
Ask: Who has seen a planet? (Student answers
will vary.) Ask: Has anyone seen a really bright
star? (Many students will say yes.) Explain that
from Earth, without a telescope, some planets
look like bright stars. Project the transparency.
Explain that, while stars stay in the same place compared
to each other, planets move around. This transparency
shows the planets that are visible this month. For homework, students will find these planets in the sky.
2. Students mark location of planets on sky maps.
Make copies of Student Resource 1.4, Find Planets in the
Sky, and distribute. Have students copy the locations of
planets and stars from the transparency, and note when
and where the planets can be seen.
A Hold the sky map overhead.
Safety
Step 4: Students must have
adult supervision to view stars
outside at night. Provide an
alternate assignment for students
who have no supervision.
3. Students practice using sky maps.
Practice using the sky map in the classroom. Discuss the
cardinal directions, pointing out north, south, east, and
west. Then have students face south and hold the map
above their heads. Note that east and west are correct
on the map when it is held in this position.
4. Students practice locating planets.
Take students outside to the playground. Again, point
out north, south, east, and west. Then face students in
the direction they should face at night to see the planets.
Point to the height in the sky where you viewed each
planet. Explain that a playground is a good place to
view the night sky, if they are accompanied by a parent
or guardian. Students should have their homework
sheets signed by their adult.
SECTION 1 THE PLANETS • 7