Transcript mary - Cal State LA - Instructional Web Server

Our Solar System
Mary Meguerditchian
Science
3rd Grade
Our Solar System Consists Of…
Sun
 Inner or Terrestrial Planets
 The Asteroid Belt
 Outer Planets or Gas Giants
 Comets
 Moons

Sun
Center and Star of our Solar System
 Planets travel around it in circular paths or
orbits
 Holds the solar system together
 Filled with scorching, hot gases
 Provides energy that heats our world and
makes life possible

Inner or Terrestrial Planets

Includes four, small planets:
Mercury
 Venus
 Earth
 Mars


Composed of rock and metal
Mercury
Innermost and smallest planet
 Closest planet to the sun
 It is gray, hot and very dry
 Surface is covered with craters
 Has a metallic or iron core
 Has no water, no air, and no moons

Venus
Second planet from the Sun
 Earth’s closest and most similar
neighbor
 Brightest object in the sky, after the Sun
and Moon
 Surface is covered with thick, poisonous
clouds
 Has no oxygen in its air and no water on
its surface

Earth
Third planet from the Sun
 Only planet where life exists
 Home to humans
 Largest of the inner planets
 Only planet that has liquid water
at its surface
 Its atmosphere helps protect life
on Earth
 Also known as the Blue Planet

Mars

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Fourth planet from the Sun
Also known as the Red Planet
due to the presence of iron
oxide on its surface
Has a very thin atmosphere
Contains enormous volcanoes,
valleys, canyons, boulders,
and clouds of red dust
Outer Planets or Gas Giants

Includes four planets:
Jupiter
 Saturn
 Uranus
 Neptune

Composed of mainly hydrogen and helium
 More massive than the inner planets

The Asteroid Belt
Lies between Mars and Jupiter
 Asteroids are small, rocky objects
 Believed to be left over from
the beginning of the
solar system

Jupiter
Largest planet in our solar system
 Covered by a layer of clouds made of
chemicals, which give them a reddish or
brownish color
 The Great Red Spot and other storms
occur commonly on its atmosphere

Saturn
Sixth planet from the sun and the second
largest
 Has thousands of rings around it that are
made of ice, rock and dust
 Contains yellow
and gold bands
in its atmosphere
due to fast winds
and rising heat

Uranus
Seventh planet from the Sun
 Covered with thick, blue-green fog
 It is circled by rings
 Spins differently than others; seems to be
lying on its side

Neptune
Coldest and furthest planet from the Sun
 Blue in color because of the methane gas
found in its atmosphere
 Obtains strong winds that cause
hurricane-like storms, like the Great Dark
Spot

Comets
Small Solar System bodies that orbit the
Sun
 Balls of rock and ice
 Known as “dirty snowballs”
 Grow tails or leave trails as they
approach the Sun, which becomes
illuminated and glows

Moons
Natural satellites that
orbit planets or other
small solar system
bodies
 Only Mercury and Venus
are moonless
 Earth has one, while
Jupiter has 63 moons

The End
References

Astronomy For Kids
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National Geographic
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http://www.kidsastronomy.com/
http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science
/space/solar-system
Wikipedia

http://www.wikipedia.org/