The

Solar
System
Distance Mercury Venus Earth Mars
from the
Sun

Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune

Glue blank square to the back of Mars. Write in distance from Sun under each planet.
Glue Neptune to book. Accordion fold on lines.
“The Solar System” can be used for the center or cover.
 To move in a Large ball of
gas that gives A group of To turn on an
circle around
heat and light stars given a axis or one
something
to Earth special name point

An invisible
A person who A device that force that
Changing
travels to helps you see attracts
shapes of the
space things very things to each
moon
far away other

Space Words

Cut out both boxes above. Glue definition box to bottom. Following the
Orbit
dotted lines, cut the slits into Space Words box. Apply glue or double stick
Sun Astronaut
tape to just the center underside of Space Words box, running horizontally.
Constellation Telescope
Place on top of definition box.
Rotate Magnetism
<----- Using key words, write in correct word on flap above each definition.
Phases
Order from the Sun: Order from the Sun: Order from the Sun:

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Earth days to orbit the Sun: Earth days to orbit the Sun: Earth days to orbit the Sun:

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Number of Moons Number of Moons Number of Moons

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Number of Rings Number of Rings Number of Rings

____________________ ____________________ ____________________

Order from the Sun: Order from the Sun: Order from the Sun:

____________________ ____________________ ____________________

Earth days to orbit the Sun: Earth days to orbit the Sun: Earth days to orbit the Sun:

-------------------------------- -------------------------------- --------------------------------

Number of Moons Number of Moons Number of Moons

____________________ ____________________ ____________________

Number of Rings Number of Rings Number of Rings

____________________ ____________________ ____________________

Order from the Sun: Order from the Sun: Order from the Sun:

____________________ ____________________ ____________________

Earth days to orbit the Sun: Earth days to orbit the Sun: Earth days to orbit the Sun:

-------------------------------- -------------------------------- --------------------------------

Number of Moons Number of Moons Number of Moons

____________________ ____________________ ____________________

Number of Rings Number of Rings Number of Rings

____________________ ____________________ ____________________

Cut out fact cards on

dotted lines. Fill in
information for each
planet. Mount the slip
of paper to cardstock

FACTS or construction paper.

Write the name of each
planet on the back of
the card.

Cut out FACTS

envelope. Fold in tabs
and glue to lapbook.
Place fact cards inside.
 Planet Information

Mercury
Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. Its average distance from the sun is 36 million miles. Mercury
has a quick orbit, making one complete revolution around the sun every 88 earth days making that
0.241 earth years. Compared to Earth, Mercury rotates on its axis slowly, making one complete
rotation every 58.6 earth days. Mercury is a terrestrial planet meaning it has a solid surface. Its
surface is covered with craters. Because of Mercury’s small size it has almost no atmosphere to
protect it from things like meteorites and the Sun’s heat. What atmosphere it does have is composed
of helium and hydrogen. Such a lack of atmosphere allows extreme temperature changes. The side
that faces the sun can get as hot as 800°F and the side facing away from the sun can get a cold as
-360°F. Mercury is the second smallest planet with a diameter of 3031 miles. Its gravity is only 0.38
times as much as the gravity on earth. Mercury was named after the Roman messenger of the gods.
Mercury does not have any moons. Some fun facts about Mercury are all of the craters are named for
artists, musicians and writers. All of the valleys are named after observatories and the ridges and cliffs
are named after ships that have explored the earth. Mercury probably received the name for the
Roman messenger of the gods because it moves so quickly across the sky. MESSENGER , which is
an acronym for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging, is a spacecraft
that was launched by NASA in 2004 and will orbit Mercury starting in 2011 after several flybys.
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the sun. Its average distance from the sun is 67 million miles. Venus
makes one revolution around the sun in 224.7 earth days making that 0.615 earth years. Venus has
the slowest rotation in the solar system. It rotates on its axis once every 243 earth days. Venus has a
rocky, solid surface with several large craters. Venus' atmosphere is 100 time thicker than Earths. It is
made up of 90% carbon dioxide and about 10% nitrogen. The sky of Venus is full of clouds made of
sulfuric acid. With such a thick atmosphere heat gets trapped and the surface can get as hot as 900°F.
Venus is the planet that is closest in size to the earth. Its diameter is 7523 miles. Its gravity is 0.91
times that of earth. Venus was named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. Venus also has
no moons. Some fun facts about Venus are Venus’ nicknames are the Evening Star or the Morning
Star because, besides the moon, it is one of the brightest objects in the nighttime sky. That is because
of its think atmosphere it reflects over 75% of the light that hits it. Also there has been evidence of
former lava flows. This shows that at one time Venus had volcanic activity. It is believed that the
surface use to be covered with hundreds of volcanoes.
Earth
The third planet from the sun is Earth. Its average distance from the sun is 93 million miles. Earths
revolution around the sun takes 365.26 days or 1 year. Its rotation takes 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4
seconds, or one day. Earth has a solid surface of which 72% of it is cover with water. The atmosphere
consists of 78% nitrogen, 20% oxygen, 0.9% argon and 0.1% carbon dioxide. Earth’s temperature
range is -60°F to 140°F. It has a diameter of 7926 miles. On Earth gravity is figured out by multiplying
by 1. In Roman Mythology, the goddess of the earth was Tellus, which means the fertile soil. In Greek
Mythology the goddess’s name was Gaia which means Mother Earth. The name Earth itself does not
derive from Greek or Roman Mythology but from Old English and Germanic. There are hundreds of
other names for the planet Earth in other languages. Earth has one moon which is sometime referred
to as Luna. Some fun facts about Earth are that out of all the planets Earth is the only one to have a
significant amount of water. Unlike Mercury, who has little atmosphere, and Venus, who’s atmosphere
is to thick, Earth has the perfect atmosphere to support life. At the equator, the Earth is spinning at
1000 mph about its axis and moving at 67,000 mph around the Sun.
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. The average distance from the sun is 142 million miles. Mars
revolves once around the sun every 686.98 earth days making that 1.88 in earth years. It rotates on its
axis every 24 hours and 37 minutes. Mars solid surface is mostly made up of iron oxide (rust) which
accounts for its red color and is covered with many craters, mountains and valleys. Mar’s atmosphere
is about 7% as thick as the atmosphere around the Earth making it very thin and is composed mostly
of 95.3% carbon dioxide, 2.7% nitrogen, 1.6% argon, 0.15% oxygen, and 0.03% water. Its temperature
ranges from -220°F to 80°F. It has a diameter of 4222 miles. Mars gravity is about the same as it is on
Mercury and is 0.38 times the gravity on Earth. It was named after the Roman god of war, probably
because of its red color. There are two moons that revolve around Mars. Their names are Deimos and
Phobos. Some fun facts about Mars are that the largest canyon on Mars would stretch form NYC to LA
on Earth. That makes the Grand Canyon look very small. Also Mars has higher mountains and deeper
canyons than any other planet in the solar system. Mars is also home to the biggest volcano in the
solar system and it is called Olympus Mons. Mars moons were named after the attendants of the
Roman god Mars.
Jupiter
The fifth and largest planet in our solar system is Jupiter. It is an average of 483 million miles from the
sun. Jupiter takes 4332.59 earth days or 11.9 earth years to revolve around the sun. However, it has
the fastest rotation in the solar system-- rotating every 9 hours and 55 minutes. Jupiter’s nickname is
the Gas Giant because it has an atmosphere mainly composed of 90% hydrogen and 10% helium. Its
atmosphere is hundreds of miles thick. Jupiter’s average temperature is -250°F. Jupiter is 1 ½ times
larger than all of the other planets put together. It has a diameter of 89,372 miles. Because of Jupiter’s
large mass it has a gravitational pull that is 2.64 times that of Earth. It was named after the ruler of all
the Roman gods. Jupiter has at least 63 moons. The four largest are referred to as the Galilean
moons because Galileo was who discovered them. They are called Io, Europa, Ganymede and
Callisto. Some fun facts about Jupiter are that you can see the four larger moons with a pair of
binoculars at night. Also because of its fast rotation, the planet bulges in the middle. So instead of
being round it is really short and fat. Jupiter is home of the famous Great Red Spot. The Great Red
Spot is a giant windstorm that has winds like a super hurricane and it is the size of three Earths put
together. This storm is in the same position and is the same shape as it was when it was first
discovered 300 year ago. One other thing, like Saturn, Jupiter has rings but they are much fainter and
smaller. Unlike Saturn’s, Jupiter’s rings are dark and contains no ice.
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun and the second largest planet in the solar system. It has an
average distance of 888 million miles from the sun. Saturn revolves around the sun once every
10759.2 earth days or 29.5 earth years. Like Jupiter, Saturn spins very quickly on its axis, making one
rotation every 10 hours and 13 minutes. Saturn is a gas planet and its atmosphere consists of 75%
hydrogen and 25% helium. Its average temperature is -300°F. Saturn has a diameter of 74,898 miles.
Saturn has a gravitational pull that is 1.13 times that of Earth. Its name comes from the Roman god of
agriculture. Saturn has 34 moons, the most famous of which is Titan. Titan is the second largest moon
in the solar system and is bigger than both Mercury and Pluto. Some fun facts: Although Saturn isn’t
the only planet with rings it is the one that is famous for having them. When Galileo first discovered
Saturn in 1610 he could not see the rings clearly to know what they were. He thought that Saturn had
two smaller globes circling it because what he saw looked like “ears” on the side of the planet. In
1659, an astronomer named Christian Huygens was able to use a better telescope and saw that the
“ears” were actually rings around Saturn. The band of rings is mostly composed of pieces of ice, dust
and rocks and is about 170,000 miles across.
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun. The average distance from the sun is 1783 million miles. It
revolves around the sun once every 30,684 earth days or 84 earth years. Uranus spins on its axis
once 17 hours and 14 minutes. It is a gas planet with an atmosphere of 83% hydrogen, 15% helium
and 2% methane. Because Uranus is so far from the sun its average temperature is -365°F. It has a
diameter of 31,763 miles and its gravity is 1.17 times that of Earth. Uranus is named for the Roman
god of the heavens. Uranus has 21 named moons and six unnamed ones. Some of their names are
Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Belinda, Puck, Miranda,
Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, Caliban, Sycorax, Prospero, Setebos, and Stephano. Some fun facts
about Uranus are that it rotates at a 90-degree angle compared to that rest of the planets. It’s as if it
was rotating on its side and appears to roll around the sun because of this unusual tilt. Uranus also
has rings surrounding it. There appears to be about 13 rings and link Jupiter’s, they are very dark.
Uranus' moons were named from the writings of Shakespeare and Pope. Since Uranus takes so long
to orbit the sun, each season is 21 years long.
Neptune
The eighth planet from the Sun is Neptune. Its average distance is 2794 million miles from the sun. It
revolves around the sun once every 60,190 earth days or 164.8 earth years and rotates on its axis
once every 18 hours and 30 minutes. Neptune is a gas planet whose atmosphere is made up of about
15% hydrogen and a little helium. Its average temperature is about -370°F. Neptune’s diameter is
30,775 miles. Its gravity is 1.19 times that of Earth. Neptune’s name came from the Roman god of the
sea. It has 13 moons one of which is named Triton who was the Greek god of the sea. Some fun facts
about Neptune are that it is so far from the sun that from the surface the sun appears to be only a
bright star. Also, like Jupiter, Neptune has what is believed to be a giant storm called the Great Dark
Spot. The winds in the Great Dark Spot blows at more than 700 mph. Neptune also has rings and like
Uranus and Jupiter they are very dark but their composition is unknown.
Pluto
Pluto is the ninth planet from the sun. It average distance from the sun is 3647 million miles. Pluto
orbits the sun once every 90,465 earth day or 248.5 earth years. It rotates on its axis once every 6 day
and 9 hours. Because Pluto is so far away very little is known about it. It is not known whether it has a
solid or a gas surface. Its atmosphere is believed to be made up of nitrogen with some carbon
monoxide and frozen methane. Pluto’s average temperature is believed to be -390°F. It has a diameter
of only 1425 miles and its gravitational pull is only 0.08 time that of Earth. Pluto was named after the
Roman god of the underworld. It is believed that Pluto received this name because it is so far from the
sun that it is in perpetual darkness. Pluto has three moons. The largest is named Charon which is
named after the boatman who worked for Pluto in Roman mythology. Some fun facts about Pluto are
that it is believed that the person who was credited with discovering Pluto, Clyde Tombaugh, also
choose the name Pluto because “PL" are the initials of Percival Lowell who founded the Lowell
Observatory in Arizona which was where Clyde discovered Pluto. Also 20 out of 250 years Neptune
and Pluto cross orbits. The last time this happened was from 1979 to 1999. In 2006 Pluto was
demoted to a “dwarf planet”. In January of 2006 a spacecraft called New Horizons was launched
towards Pluto. If all goes well it should reach it in 2015.