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Investigating the Solar System

This Workbook belongs to: ___Teacher’s Version___

Our Local Star: The SunOur Local Star: The SunLocation in The Solar System

Name of Star:

Draw and Color your own Sun in the

blank box

Interesting Facts 1. _______The Sun is at the center of ________ ____________the Solar System_____________ _______________________________________ 2. __________The Sun is 4.6_______________ ____________billion years old______________ _______________________________________ 3. _________The Sun is the biggest__________ _________thing in our Solar System________ _______________________________________ 4. _________The Sun is a Star ______________ _____________not a planet_______________ ______________________________________ 5. _____The planets formed as a result_______ _____of the formation of the Sun _______ ___________________________________

______________THE SUN____________

Location in The Solar System

Name of Star:

Draw and Color your own Sun in the

blank box

Interesting Facts 1. _______The Sun is at the center of ________ ____________the Solar System_____________ _______________________________________ 2. __________The Sun is 4.6_______________ ____________billion years old______________ _______________________________________ 3. _________The Sun is the biggest__________ _________thing in our Solar System________ _______________________________________ 4. _________The Sun is a Star ______________ _____________not a planet_______________ ______________________________________ 5. _____The planets formed as a result_______ _____of the formation of the Sun _______ ___________________________________

______________THE SUN____________

Planet #1Location in The Solar System

Name of Planet:

Guide to Coloring the Planet

Look at the planet as having a left side

and a right side. Color the small circles on the left side white. Then color the larger shapes on the right

side dark gray. Finally, color the rest of the planet gray.

What planet is this?

_______________Mercury___________

Interesting Facts 1. _______Mercury is the closest____________ ___________planet to the Sun______________ _______________________________________ 2. ________Mercury is the second___________ ___________smallest planet________________ _______________________________________ 3. _Mercury is covered by craters and it is the__ _____only planet without an atmosphere______ _______________________________________ 4. _______Mercury has the shortest__________ _________orbit in our Solar System__________ NOTE: Tell the students to write the orbital period of this planet on the orbital periods worksheet at the end of this packet. 5. ___1 day on Mercury is longer than it’s_____ _______year. In fact, it equals 2 years ________

Name of Planet:

Planet #2

Interesting Facts...

1. _Venus is the hottest planet in our Solar System__________________________________________________________________ 2. _Venus is covered with volcanoes and lava flows_________________________________________________________________ 3. _The atmosphere on Venus is so thick that a light breeze can blow rocks around!________________________________________ 4. _Venus is the closest planet to Earth___________________________________________________________________________ 5. _Venus is almost the same size as Earth_________________________________________________________________________

NOTE: Remember to give the students the orbital period of this planet and have them write it on their orbital period worksheet

Location in The Solar SystemGuide to Coloring the Planet

Remember, if we were to see this planet in the night sky it

would be white, but if we were on the surface, it would be yellowish-brown. You are

going to color this planet, as if we were on the surface.

Think of this planet as having 3 parts: The outside edge, the middle, and then the rest of the planet. Color the outside edge light yellow. Color the middle dark brown. Finally, color the rest of the planet an

tan color.


________Venus________


Name of Planet:


This planet should look familiar. It has

two parts: the land and the sea. The land Shapes are marked with the number 1

and the sea is marked by the number 2. Color the land green and the sea blue.


2 2

1

1

1

__________________Earth__________________

Interesting Facts 1. ______Earth is the largest of the___________ ___________terrestrial planets______________ _______________________________________ 2. _____Earth is the only place that __________ ____supports life, that we know of so far______ _______________________________________ 3. _______More than 2/3 of the Earth’s _______ _________surface is covered by water________ _______________________________________ 4. ___Earth makes one rotation in 24 hrs ___ _______and 24 hrs. equal one day.__________ _______________________________________ 5. ___Earth makes one orbit in 365 days______ ______and 356 days equals 1 year.__________ Note: Remember to have the students write the orbital period on their orbital period worksheet.


Name of Planet:


Think of this planet as having a left and right side. Color circles on the left side white and color the shapes on the right side black. Then color the rest of the

planet a reddish-brown color.


Note: Remember to have the students write the orbital period for this planet on their orbital period worksheet

_________Mars__________

Interesting Facts 1. __________Mars has been visited_________ ________________the most________________ _______________________________________ 2. _________Mars has evidence of ___________ ____________ancient oceans on it__________ _______________________________________ 3. _________Mars is known as the ___________ _______“Red Planet” because it is rusted______ _______________________________________ 4. ___________Mars is the most ____________ ____________“Earthlike” planet____________ _______________________________________ 5. _____Mars has the largest volcano_________ ____in the Solar System, it is called________ _________Olympus Mons________________

Planet #5

Name of Planet:


Color this planet by the numbers on the rows:

Row 1: Light Brown Row 2: Peach Row 3: Tan Row 4: Golden Yellow Row 5: Light Brown Row 6: Peach Row 7: Light Brown *Row 8: Color the center red, The circle outside light brown and the rest of the row tan Row 9: Peach Row 10: Light Brown



1. __Jupiter is the biggest planet in the Solar System________________________________________________________________ 2. __Jupiter’s red spot is a storm that is two times bigger than Earth____________________________________________________ 3. __Jupiter has four big moons and many small ones _______________________________________________________________ 4. __Jupiter makes one rotation in under ten hours__________________________________________________________________ 5. __Jupiter takes 12 years to make 1 orbit around the Sun____________________________________________________________

Note: Remember to have the students write the orbital period for this planet on their orbital period worksheet


10

9

8

7 6 5 4

32

1

__________________Jupiter________________


Name of Planet:


Color this planet according to the numbers found on the rows.

Row 1: Tan Row 2: Yellow Row 3: Light Brown Row 4: Tan Row 5: Light Brown Row 6: Tan Row 7: Light Brown Color the remaining small rows yellow


2

12

76 5

1

4

3

________________Saturn__________

Interesting Facts 1. _______Saturn is the second______________ _____largest planet in the Solar System_______ _______________________________________ 2._______Saturn has a moon with____________ _________an atmosphere, Titan_____________ _______________________________________ 3. ______Saturn is so light, if it were_________ _______dumped in water it would float_______ _______________________________________ 4. _______Saturn‘s rings are made___________ _________of chunks of rock and ice__________ _______________________________________ 5. ________Saturn‘s day is 10 hrs____________ _________and 40 minutes_(Rotation)_________Note: Remember to have the students write the orbital period for this planet on their orbital period worksheet


Name of Planet:

Planet #7Interesting Facts

1. ____Uranus has a thick atmosphere, but _____ _________no visible cloud features___________ ________________________________________ 2. _________Uranus has 27 moons____________ ________________________________________ 3. ________Uranus is the only planet__________ ____________to rotate on its side_____________ ________________________________________ 4. _______Winter and Summer last ___________ __________21 years on Uranus______________ ________________________________________ 5. _____It takes Uranus 84 Earth years_________ ______to make one orbit around the Sun_______ Note: Remember to have the students write the orbital period for this planet on their orbital period worksheet

2

6

5

4 3

1

_____________Uranus______________


Color this planet by the numbers on the

rows. Row 1: Lime Green Row 2: Light Green Row 3: Light Green Row 4: Blue Green Row 5: Blue Green Row 6: Blue Green


Name of Planet:

Planet #8


Color this planet by the

number or letter on the row:

Row 1: Dark Blue Row 2: Light Blue Letter A: Dark Blue Row 3: Sky Blue Row 4: Blue Row 5: Dark Blue



1. __ Neptune is the last of the Gas Giants________________________________________________________________________ 2. __Neptune has 13 known moons______________________________________________________________________________ 3. __Neptune has some of the fastest wind speeds, with winds over 1,000 miles per hour____________________________________ 4. __Neptune has dark storms and giant hurricanes__________________________________________________________________ 5. __It takes Neptune 176 Earth years to make one orbit around the Sun_________________________________________________

Note: Remember to have the students write the orbital period for this planet on their orbital period worksheet.


A

5

4

3

2

1

________________Neptune________


Name of Planet:

Planet #9


Because we know so little about this

planet we don’t know the actual color. But since we know this planet is a

giant ball of ice- color it gray and purple.


________Pluto________

Interesting Facts 1. _________Pluto is the smallest ___________ _________planet in our Solar System_________ _______________________________________ 2. ______Pluto has never been visited_________ _______________________________________ 3. __Pluto is the furthest planet from the Sun,___ _____so it has the longest orbital period ______ NOTE: Remember to have the students write the orbital period for this planet on their orbital period worksheet and ask them to answer the question at the end of their sheet. 4. ____Pluto is neither a terrestrial planet______ _____________nor a gas giant______________ 5. _____Pluto is known as a double planet_____ _______because it is almost the same ______ ________size as its moon, Charon___________

ORBITAL PERIODS

Directions: On the lines below, write the length of the orbital period for each planet. Be sure towrite your answer in the correct units (see example below).

Mercury: ____ 88 Earth days___________________________________________________

Venus: ____ 225 Earth days__________________________________________________

Earth: ___ 365 Earth days __________________________________________________

Mars: ____687 Earth days__________________________________________________

Jupiter: ____12 Earth years___________________________________________________

Saturn: ____29 Earth years___________________________________________________

Uranus: ____84 Earth years___________________________________________________

Neptune: ____176 Earth years__________________________________________________

Pluto: ____248 Earth years__________________________________________________

After looking at the orbital periods for each planet, what conclusion can you make about thelengths of the orbital paths and the distance a planet is from the Sun?

_____We are hoping students can conclude – that the further a planet is___________________

_____from the Sun, the longer it will take to complete one orbit because___________________

_____it has a longer orbital path to follow.__________________________________________

Name: ______Teachers Guide______Understanding Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion

Directions: Look at your choices carefully and write the correct answer in the blank provided.

1. Kepler’s first law says that planets travel in a _______Elliptical_______ path around the sun.

2. The diagrams below show Mars in orbit around the Sun.

a. Put an “X” where M ars is closest to the Sunb. Put an “X” where M ars receives the strongest gravitational pull from the Sun.c. Put an “X” where M ars is moving fastest in its orbit.

Circular Elliptical

or or

Rectangular

Choices:

Mars

Mars

Mars

X

X

X

The Sun

The Sun

The Sun

A.

B.

C.

After looking at your answers for the diagrams above, what can you say about Kepler’s secondlaw?

The closer planet (in this case Mars) gets to the Sun -- the faster it will move. Essentially,

Kepler’s second law shows us that a planet will receive the strongest gravitational pull from

the Sun when its closest to the sun, so as a result will move faster in its orbital path when

closest to the Sun.

Not to Scale

Mercury

JupiterThe Sun

Not to Scale

Earth

JupiterThe Sun

Jupiter is further away from the Sun so it has a longer orbital path to follow than Mercury.

In addition to having a longer orbital path, because Jupiter it is further away from the Sun

it receives a weaker gravitational pull from the Sun causing it to move slower.

3. Why will Jupiter take much longer to orbit the Sun than Mercury? (Look at the diagrambelow for help)

4. Carefully look at the diagram below. Use the diagram to help you circle the correct answer:

NOTE: It takes Earth one year to revolve completely around the Sun, and it takes Jupiter 12

years because it is much farther from the Sun (see previous question). Since Earth and

Jupiter are on opposite sides of the Sun in the diagram, it will take less than a year for Earth

to catch up and pass Jupiter. If the diagram showed Earth and Jupiter aligned to begin with,

Based on the position of Earth in the diagram, how long would it take Earth topass Jupiter?

a. Less than one year

then it would take more than one year for Earth to pass it because when Earth returned to the

same spot one year later, Jupiter will have shifted some (about 1/12th of a revolution),

requiring Earth to travel a bit further to catch up.

b. Every year

c. More than one year

How well have you learned about our Solar System? Directions: Write the name of each planet on the correct line in the diagram

Sun

1. ___Mercury__ 3. ___Earth__ 5.____Jupiter___ 7. ___Uranus____ 9.____Pluto_____

2. ____Venus_____ 4. ______Mars____ 6.___Saturn______ 8. ___Neptune___

Name: ________Teachers Guide_______________

Earth Venus Uranus Mars Jupiter Saturn Pluto Mercury Neptune Earth Venus Uranus Mars Jupiter Saturn Pluto Mercury Venus Uranus Mars Jupiter Saturn Pluto Mercury Nep

Uranus Jupiter Saturn Pluto Mercury Mars Neptune Earth Venus Uranus Mars Jupiter Saturn Pluto Mercury Neptune Earth

Venus Uranus Mars Jupiter Saturn Pluto Mercury N

Name: ______Teacher’s Guide___________Date: ______________________________

How well have you learned about our Solar System?

1. What are the two different TYPES of planets in our Solar System? There are two types of planets in our Solar System, the first 4 are

called the rock or terrestrial planets and the next four are called the gas giants. Pluto is the only planet does not fall into either category.

orbit2. The path a planet travels around the sun is called a ________ __________. 3. What is it called when a planet spins on its axis? _____When a planet spins on its axis, it is rotating________________________

4. Which planet completes its orbit in the shortest amount of time: Mercury or Pluto? _____Mercury____________________________________________________

Why does this planet complete its orbit in the shortest amount of time?

____Mercury completes its orbit in the shortest amount of time because it is closer to the Sun than Pluto and as a result has a shorter distance to travel_____________.

Multiple Choice: 5. What is at the center of our Solar System? a. Mercury b. Mars

c. The Sun d. Pluto 6. What is the hottest planet in our solar system? a. Earth

b. Venus c. Saturn d. The Sun 7. Which planet rotates on its side?

a. Uranus b. Jupiter c. Mercury d. Mars 8. What is the biggest planet in the Solar System? a. Venus b. Uranus

c. Jupiter d. Earth 9. What planet would float if you put it in water? a. Venus b. Mars

c. Saturn d. Uranus 10. What is the biggest rock planet? a. Mercury

b. Earth c. Saturn

d. Pluto

11. What planet has a surface that most resembles the moon? a. Jupiter

b. Mercury c. Pluto d. Neptune 12. Which planet has a Great Red Spot?

a. Jupiter b. Earth c. Neptune d. Mercury 13. What is the smallest planet in our solar system? a. Venus b. Mercury

c. Pluto d. Saturn

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