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The Inner Planets
Inquiry Warm-Up, Ring Around the Sun
In the Inquiry Warm-Up, you investigated the orbits of the inner planets around the sun.
Using what you learned from that activity, answer the questions below.
1. APPLY CONCEPTS In the model, should the radius of Mercury be
greater than or less than 3.5 meters?
2. APPLY CONCEPTS If Jupiter is farther away from the sun than Mars, will
it take more or less time to travel around the sun than Mars does?
3. APPLY CONCEPTS Why does Earth take longer to travel around the sun
than Venus?
4. COMMUNICATE Draw a diagram of your model of the inner planets.
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The Inner Planets
What Do the Inner Planets Have in Common?
I get it! Now I know that the inner planets are
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What Are the Characteristics of the Inner Planets?
1a. NAME Which inner planet has the thickest atmosphere?
b. RELATE CAUSE AND EFFECT Why is Venus hotter than Mercury?
I get it! Now I know that the inner planets differ in
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Class
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The Inner Planets
On a separate sheet of paper, explain how the four inner planets are alike and tell one
distinctive thing about each.
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The Inner Planets
Understanding Main Ideas
Label the diagram with the names of the inner planets.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Write the name of the inner planet or planets that the statement describes.
5.
has a rocky surface
6.
70 percent is covered with water
7.
rotates in the opposite direction of most other planets
and moons
8.
called the “red planet”
9.
has at least one moon
10.
similar to each other in size and mass
11.
has almost no atmosphere
12.
atmosphere so heavy and thick that it would crush a human
13.
has enough gravity to hold on to most gases
14.
atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide
Building Vocabulary
Write a definition for each of these terms on a separate sheet of paper.
15. terrestrial planets
16. greenhouse effect
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The Inner Planets
Read the passage and study the figures below. Then use a separate sheet of paper to
answer the questions that follow.
Atmospheres of Earth and Venus
Earth and Venus are about the same size, but they could not be more different. Earth’s surface is cool
while that of Venus is 460°C. This is because Venus is closer to the sun than Earth and because of
the greenhouse effect caused by the carbon dioxide gas in Venus’s atmosphere. Earth has a smaller
greenhouse effect because there is much less carbon dioxide in its atmosphere.
Both Earth and Venus get much of their carbon dioxide from the same source: erupting volcanoes.
Unlike on Venus, Earth’s carbon dioxide is constantly removed from the atmosphere by liquid water and
green plants. Carbon dioxide dissolves easily in water. Once there, it joins with other chemicals to form
solid substances that become part of sea-floor rocks. This carbon dioxide is “locked up” for long periods
of time in these rocks. Plants also absorb carbon dioxide and lock up some of the gas. However on
Venus, carbon dioxide simply builds up in the atmosphere.
1. Figure 1 shows, in very simple terms, the pathways taken by carbon
dioxide on Earth. According to the diagram, where does carbon
dioxide go when it leaves Earth’s atmosphere?
2. On Earth, where is most of the carbon dioxide located at any one
time? On Venus, where is most of the carbon dioxide located at any
one time?
3. On Earth, how does carbon dioxide move from the atmosphere into
rocks? Why does this movement not occur on Venus?
4. If all carbon dioxide coming out of volcanoes were to remain in
the atmosphere, what further effect would this have on Earth’s
temperature?
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The Inner Planets
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line at the left.
1.
3.
Mars’s atmosphere is composed
mostly of
A nitrogen
B hydrogen
C oxygen
D carbon dioxide
2.
All the inner planets have an
atmosphere except
A Mercury
B Venus
C Earth
D Mars
4.
A
B
C
D
Some regions of Mars have giant
lakes
volcanoes
forests
rivers
The inner planets that experience a
greenhouse effect are
A Mercury and Mars
B Venus and Mars
C Venus and Earth
D Mercury and Earth
If the statement is true, write true. If the statement is false, change the underlined word
or words to make the statement true.
5.
The inner planets are small and dense and have smooth
surfaces.
6.
Mercury rotates so slowly that its day is longer than its year.
7.
The thick clouds on Venus are made up mostly of carbonic acid
droplets.
8.
Earth is unique in our solar system for having liquid mercury on
its surface.
9.
10.
Oxygen makes up about 20 percent of Earth’s atmosphere.
Space ships have given scientists important information about
Mercury, Venus, and Mars.
The Inner Planets
Answer Key
15. Sample: The first four planets from the sun:
1. less than 3.5 meters
2. more
Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. They are the
Earth-like planets with rocky surfaces.
16. the trapping of heat by the atmosphere
3. Venus is closer to the sun so it has a shorter
distance to travel.
4. Students should draw a model of the inner
solar system showing the sun, and four
concentric circles representing the four inner
planets.
1. Carbon dioxide is either dissolved in the oceans
or absorbed by green plants.
2. On Earth, at any one time, most of the carbon
dioxide is locked up in rocks. On Venus, it is in
the atmosphere.
3. On Earth, carbon dioxide dissolves in ocean
Sample: The inner, or terrestrial, planets are small
and dense and have rocky surfaces. Mercury has
virtually no atmosphere. Venus rotates from east
to west. Earth has liquid water and a suitable
temperature range and atmosphere for living
things to survive. Mars appears reddish because
of the breakdown of iron-rich rocks.
1. Mercury
water. While there, it reacts with other
chemicals to form rocks. On Venus, there are
no oceans in which the carbon dioxide can
dissolve.
4. The carbon dioxide would increase the
greenhouse effect and would further warm
Earth’s surface.
2. Venus
1. D
3. A
2. B
3. Earth
5. rocky
4. Mars
6. Venus
7. sulfuric
5. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
8. water
9. true
6. Earth
7. Venus
8. Mars
9. Earth, Mars
10. Venus, Earth
11. Mercury
12. Venus
13. Earth
14. Venus, Mars
4. C
10. probes