Micro-Scholarship, What it is, How can it help me.pdf
Solar System
1. A Brief Tour of
the Solar System
Fun facts about our planets!
Alyson Twist – Professor Rice – Educational Technology – Fall 2014
2. OBJECTIVES TO BE LEARNED
To gain a general knowledge of our solar system
Be able to learn all the planets in our solar system
To recognize the position of the Earth in relation to the
sun and other planets
To understand the basic concept of our solar system
3. Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto?
The Solar System
The Sun
4. The Sun
• The Sun is by far
the largest object
in the solar system.
• It contains more
the 99.8% of the
mass of the solar
system.
• The sun sits at the
center of our solar
system
• It acts as a huge
magnet that the
planets orbit
around
5. Mercury
• Mercury is the planet closest to the sun
• Though it is the closest, it is only the SECOND
hottest planet – Venus is hotter!
• It only takes Mercury 88 days to orbit the sun.
• However, ONE DAY on Mercury is
equivalent to 176 DAYS on Earth!
6. Venus
• One day on Venus lasts longer than a year on
Venus’ diameter is only 396 miles short of Earth’s!
Venus
• Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system,
coming in at 462° C (864° F!)
• Venus rotates counter-clockwise and does
not tilt on its axis, therefore it has no
seasonal changes!
7. Earth
• Earth has only one moon
• Earth is the only planet not named after a god
• The Earth was once considered to be the center of
the universe.
• Earth is the third planet from the sun and the
only known planet in the universe to inhabit life
forms
• Earth’s powerful magnetic field
protects it from damaging solar
winds
8. Mars
• The sun appears half the size on
Mars as it does on Earth
• A year on Mars only lasts 340 days
• Mars has seasons just like Earth!
• It is home to the largest mountain
in our solar system, Olympus
Mons
Mars is so little next to Earth!
• Mars has 2 moons
9. Jupiter
• It takes Jupiter 11.8 earth years to
rotate around the sun
• One day on Jupiter only lasts 9 hours!
The great red spot
is actually a HUGE
STORM on Jupiter!
10. Saturn
• Saturn’s rings are mostly made up of chunks of ice
and dust
• Saturn can be seen through binoculars or a small
telescope! It is the 5th brightest object in the sky!
• It takes 29.4 Earth years for Saturn to orbit the
sun.
• Saturn has over 150 moons and moonlets!
11. Uranus
• Uranus is the coldest planet
• Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun
• It has 27 moons, most of which are
named after Shakespeare characters
• Uranus has TWO sets of rings!
12. Neptune
• Neptune has 14 moons
• It takes 164.8 Earth years to revolve
around the sun
• Neptune has a very thin collection of
rings
• Its atmosphere is made up of
hydrogen, helium and some
methane
13. Pluto
• Pluto was only discovered in 1930.
• Pluto’s unusual orbit around the sun causes
some scientist’s to question whether Pluto is
really a planet
• Because of this Pluto is now labeled a
“dwarf planet”
• It takes approximately 248 years for Pluto to
orbit the sun
14. POP QUIZ!
Earth is the _____ planet away
from the sun:
A. 2nd
B. 4th
C. 7th
D. 3rd
