The 8 Planets of Our Solar System

by Daniel Beebe

Content Area: Science

Grade Level: Third

Summary: The purpose of this instructional PowerPoint is for students to learn the names and characteristics of the planets in our solar system, especially their order. They will also learn about the essential and unique form and presence of water on Earth.

Learning Objective: Given an interactive game, the student will drag and drop the planets into the correct position with 100% accuracy.

Content Standard: Standard 6 – The Universe

(GLE 0307.6.1)

Accomplishment: Develop a fundamental knowledge of nearby planetary bodies

Opening question:What do you know about our solar system? Pull out a piece of paper

and write down any knowledge you have about our planet, other planets, the sun, the moon, or any other things in outer space.

Our Amazing Solar System:

Mercury

• Has no water• Closest planet to sun, but still 36 million miles away!• 3,100 miles around• A year there lasts 88 days• Temp. up to 750 degrees F!• Has no moons• More Mercury Fun Facts

Venus• Has no water• Second planet from the sun, 67 million miles away• About 7,500 miles around, close to the size of Planet Earth• Its year lasts 262 days• Hottest and brightest planet in the solar system• More Venus Fun Facts

Earth• Where we live• Third planet from sun

– 93 million miles away

• Only planet with liquid water– All life needs it to survive!– The only planet with life

• A year lasts 365 days• Has one moon, simply called the “Moon”• Does anyone know where we are on this

picture?

Mars• Fourth planet from sun

– Nicknamed the “Red Planet”

• It has seasons, just like Earth– But its “summer” is 23 degrees

• It has two moons and the largest mountain in mountain in the solar system

• More Mars Fun Facts

It’s “stump your classmate” time!Ask your classmate a difficult question about one of these four

planets. Make sure you know the answer before you ask the question, though!

Jupiter• Fifth planet from the sun• Largest planet in solar system

– 300 times the weight of Earth!• Its year is nearly 12 times ours!• It’s made of gas• Has 64 moons!• Stormy planet

– Great Red Spot

• More Jupiter Fun Facts

Saturn

• Sixth planet from sun• Surrounded by 3 giant rings• The farthest planet that we can see without a telescope• Has 18 moons

– Largest is called Titan

• More Saturn Fun Facts

Uranus

• Seventh planet from sun• Need a telescope to see it• 84 Earth years to go around sun• It has 13 rings around it• More Uranus Fun Facts

Neptune

• Eighth and last planet from sun• Discovered in 1845• Nearly 3 billion miles away!• 165 Earth years to go around sun• More Neptune Fun Facts

Here’s a sentence to help you remember the order of the planets from the sun!

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

My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos.

Interactive Solar System Game

Great job, everyone!

Any intelligent questions?

Works CitedSolar system picture: http://i.ytimg.com/vi/htOtW0pD92Y/maxresdefault.jpg

Planetary fun facts website: http://www.planetsforkids.org/planet.html

Mercury picture: http://www.planetsforkids.org/upload/-mercury-b.gif

Venus picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Venus_globe.jpg

Earth picture: http://www.solarviews.com/raw/earth/bluemarblewest.jpg

Mars picture: http://space-facts.com/wp-content/uploads/mars.jpg

Jupiter picture: http://www.spacetelescope.org/static/archives/images/screen/heic1410a.jpg

Saturn picture: http://imagesci.com/img/2013/11/saturn-the-planet-2175-hd-wallpapers.jpg

Uranus picture: http://www.horoscope.fr/admin/blog/uploads/uranus2.horo_thumb.jpg

Neptune picture: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/gallery/Neptune_Full.jpg

Solar system game: http://www.purposegames.com/game/161

Second solar system picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Planets2013.jpg