The Solar System - 6th Grade

Our Solar System is made of the Sun (which is the official name for our star), the 8 planets, an asteroid belt, and various meteors and comets flying in/out/around the system.

The Sun is the star in the middle of the Solar System.

The Sun is the most important source of energy on Earth.

The Sun is a nearly perfect spherical ball of hot plasma made primarily of hydrogen and helium.

The Sun is a G-type main-sequence star designated as a yellow dwarf that formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago.

The internal convection within the Sun generates a massive electromagnetic field.

The diameter of the Sun is about 109 times that of Earth, and it has a mass about 330,000 times that of Earth, accounting for about 99.86% of the total mass of the Solar System.

• Mercury is the smallest and closest to the Sun of the eight planets in the Solar System.
• It is the first of the terrestrial (land based) planets.

Because it has almost no atmosphere to retain heat, Mercury's surface experiences the greatest temperature variation of all the planets, ranging from −280 °F to 800 °F.

Mercury consists of approximately 70% metallic and 30% silicate material.

Venus is the second planet from the Sun.

Venus is a terrestrial planet and is sometimes called Earth's "sister planet" because of their similar size, mass, proximity to the Sun, and composition.

It has the densest atmosphere of the four terrestrial planets, consisting of more than 96% carbon dioxide.

• The high concentration of carbon dioxide ensures that a massive greenhouse effect cooks the planet on a daily basis.
• Daytime temperatures reach 863°F.
• Temperatures don't drop below 800F.

• Earth is the third planet from the Sun, the densest planet in the Solar System, the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets, and the only astronomical object known to accommodate life.
• Earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old.

Earth has a single moon (called the Moon...) which formed around the same time as Earth.

• Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second smallest planet in the Solar System, after Mercury.
• Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere.

• Olympus Mons, a shield volcano, is the largest known mountain in the Solar System.
• It is 3x taller than Mt. Everest, and sticks out of Mars' atmosphere.

The Asteroid Belt is located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter.

• The Asteroid Belt traces its origins to the formation of the Solar System.
• The belt likely never formed into a planet due to Jupiter's immense gravity.
• The size and composition of the objects in the belt vary widely.

Most of the Asteroid Belt's mass is contained in 3 protoplanets (Vesta, Pallas, Hygiea) and a dwarf planet (Ceres).

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet in the Solar System.

Jupiter is a gas giant, with a mass of two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined.

Jupiter is primarily composed of hydrogen with a quarter of its mass being helium.

The Great Red Spot is an enormous hurricane (three Earths would fit within its boundaries). It has been raging for at least 400 years.

There are 67 confirmed moons of Jupiter. 4 are much more massive than the rest, and are known as the Galilean moons.

Io is very dry and volcanic, and the 3rd largest of Jupiter's moons.

Europa is covered with a thick layer of ice, and is the 4th largest of Jupiter's moons.

Ganymede is larger than Mercury. It is the largest moon in the Solar System.

Callisto is composed of ice and rock, and it is the 2nd largest and furthest of Jupiter's moons.

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System.

Saturn is a gas giant with an average diameter about nine times that of Earth, and is primarily made of hydrogen.

Saturn is famous for its rings. They are by far the most extensive of any planet, and are made of ice and rocks.

• While Saturn has 62 moons, Titan is by far the largest.
• Titan is the second largest moon in the Solar System (about the size of Mercury).
• Titan is the only moon to have a dense atmosphere.

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun, has the third-largest planetary radius, and the fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System.

While Uranus is mostly composed of gas (hydrogen and helium), its higher water composition and cooler temperatures classify it as an "ice giant".

Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third-largest by mass.

• Neptune's composition is very similar to Uranus, and thus it is an "ice giant".
• Neptune was the first planet found by mathematical predictions.

• Neptune has 14 moons.
• Triton is by far the largest.
• It is primarily made of frozen nitrogen.

• The Kuiper Belt is a region of the Solar System beyond the planets.
• It is similar to the Asteroid Belt, but it is far larger—20 times as wide and 20 to 200 times as massive.

The Kuiper belt contains 4 dwarf planets: Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea.

Pluto, the former 9th planet, is the largest and most famous object in the Kuiper belt.

The New Horizons space probe will travel past Pluto, showing us more of the Kuiper Belt in the next few years.

Homework: On page 42 create a map of the solar system, labeling all of the members (no they don't have to be to scale).

The Solar System

6th Grade

Questions Part 1

1. Who are the members of our Solar System?

2. How big is the Sun in relation to the Earth?

3. How old is our star?

4. What is Mercury?

5. Why is Venus hotter than Mercury while being further away from the sun?

6. What is special about the 3rd planet furthest from the Sun?

7. The first 4 planets are known as ______________ because they are ________________.

Questions Part 2

1. What comes right after the 4 terrestrial planets, and what is the largest object there?

2. What is special about Saturn?

3. What is special about Jupiter?

4. What is special about Uranus?

5. What is special about Neptune?

6. What is the Kuiper belt?

Page 43 in ISN

Uranus

Uranus has a ring system (smaller than Saturn's), but is unique because it rotates on its side.

Solar system membership

Uranus has 27 moons, but none are impressive.

Neptune

The sun

Sun

Earth

Jupiter

Mercury

Mercury's core is proportionally much larger than Earth's.

Mercury is less than 6% of Earth's mass.

Mars

Valles Marineris is one of the largest canyon systems in the Solar System.

Mars has 2 small moons

Saturn

Venus

Outer Edges of the solar system

Pluto has 5 moons, Charon being the largest.

Ceres

Vesta

Asteroid belt