The Solar System

#solarsystem #space #ngscience
ngscience.com
A close look at the planets that make up our amazing solar system. This video is suitable for grades 3 to 6 and aligns to the NGSS standards.
For related resources and worksheets, visit ngscience.com.
Our Solar System:
A planet is a large ball of rock or gas that revolves around a central star. The Earth, the planet we live on, is the only known planet to contain life. The central star that the Earth orbits is the Sun. In total, there are 8 planets orbiting the Sun.
These planets, their moons and other objects orbiting the Sun make up our solar system. In order of their distance from the Sun, the four closest planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. These planets are called the inner planets. They are made up mostly of rock. Due to their close distance to the Sun, the inner planets are also much warmer than the planets further from the Sun.
The outer planets are the four furthest planets from the Sun - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. These planets are much larger than the inner planets. They are not rocky like the inner planets. Instead, they are made up mostly of gases. They are often referred to gas giants.
Besides Mercury and Venus, all of the planets on the solar system have one or more moon. Our planet, Earth, has just one moon. Mars has two moons. The planet with the most moons is Jupiter. It has 79 moons. Its largest moon, Ganymede, is larger than the planet Mercury!
Earth is the only planet in the solar system known to contain life. Why is this so?
Amazing Fact:
Although Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system! This is because of the make up of its thick atmosphere. During the day, the temperature on its surface can reach more than 440 degrees Celsius.
Did You Know:
Scientists once considered there to be nine planets in the solar system. This included a small icy planet beyond Neptune, called Pluto. In 2006, scientists decided that Pluto was too small to be considered a planet and classified it as a dwarf planet.
There are many different objects in the solar system. Some, such as space rocks, are natural. Others objects, such as communication satellites, have been sent into space by people.
One of the most commonly found objects in space are asteroids. Asteroids are large rocks that can range in size from just a few centimetres up to thousands of kilometres. Most asteroids orbit the Sun in an asteroid belt between the planets Mars and Jupiter.
Like asteroids, comets are made up of large chunks of rock. However, comets are also composed of ice, water and dust. Comets are often seen with a long tail which is mostly due to the dust that is left behind by the comet. The size of most comets ranges from around 700 metres to 20 km.
Asteroids and comets often break up into smaller pieces and form meteoroids. Meteoroids have a size ranging from a grain of sand to one metre.
If a meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere, it becomes known as a meteor. Most meteors burn up completely before reaching the Earth’s surface. Have you ever seen a shooting star? It was most likely a meteor burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Occasionally, a meteor doesn’t burn up completely as it enters the atmosphere. A meteor that reaches the Earth’s surface is called a meteorite.
Did You Know:
Beyond Neptune is a large belt of ice rocks called the Kuiper belt. The belt is around 2000 times larger than the the asteroid belt and is also home to the dwarf planet Pluto.
Amazing Fact:
About 2 billion years ago, a giant meteorite hit the surface of the Earth. It created the largest crater on Eartth - the Vredefort Crater. It is more than 300 kilometres wide!
Some objects in the solar system are man-made and have been launched into space by people.
Man-made satellites are large machines that orbit the Earth and provide us with information we use from day to day. Satellites are used for communication, weather forecasting and can provide us with accurate information about locations on Earth.
Some man-made satellites are used to observe and gather data about other objects in the solar system, such as planets, moons and the Sun.
Space telescopes are man-made satellites in space that are used to see things further away and more clearly that telescopes on Earth.
One of the largest is the Hubble Space Telescope. It has been observing objects in the solar system and beyond since 1990. It has helped scientists learn many things about space.
People often go on missions aboard space crafts launched into space by powerful rockets. The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest man-made object in space. The ISS is a giant space laboratory that orbits the Earth with up to nine astronauts on board. The astronauts carry out experiments about living in space in a hope to one day make living in space or even on other planets possible.