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Investigating the
Solar System
This Workbook belongs to:
___Teachers Version___
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Our Local Star: The SunOur Local Star: The Sun
Name of Star:
Draw and Color
your own Sun in the
blank box
Interesting Facts
1. _______The Sun is at the center of_______
____________the Solar System____________
______________________________________
2. __________The Sun is 4.6______________
____________billion years old_____________
______________________________________
3. _________The Sun is the biggest_________
_________thing in our Solar System________
______________________________________
4. _________The Sun is a Star____________
_____________not a planet_______________
______________________________________
5. _____The planets formed as a result_______
_____of the formation of the Sun ______
__________________________________
______________THE SUN____________
Name of Star:
Draw and Color
your own Sun in the
blank box
Interesting Facts
1. _______The Sun is at the center of_______
____________the Solar System____________
______________________________________
2. __________The Sun is 4.6______________
____________billion years old_____________
______________________________________
3. _________The Sun is the biggest_________
_________thing in our Solar System________
______________________________________
4. _________The Sun is a Star____________
_____________not a planet_______________
______________________________________
5. _____The planets formed as a result_______
_____of the formation of the Sun ______
__________________________________
______________THE SUN____________
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Planet #1
Location in The Solar S stem
Name of Planet:
Guide to Coloring the Planet
Look at the planet as having a left side
and a right side. Color the small
circles on the left side white. Thencolor the larger shapes on the right
side dark gray. Finally, color the rest
of the planet gray.
What planet is this?
_______________Mercury___________
Interesting Facts
1. _______Mercury is the closest____________
___________planet to the Sun______________
_______________________________________
2. ________Mercury is the second___________
___________smallest planet________________
_______________________________________
3. _Mercury is covered by craters and it is the__
_____only planet without an atmosphere______
_______________________________________
4. _______Mercury has the shortest__________
_________orbit in our Solar System__________
NOTE: Tell the students to write the orbitalperiod of this planet on the orbital periods
worksheet at the end of this packet.
5. ___1 day on Mercury is longer than its_____
_______year. In fact, it equals 2 years________
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Planet #2
Interesting Facts...1. _Venus is the hottest planet in our Solar System____________________________________
2. _Venus is covered with volcanoes and lava flows___________________________________
3. _The atmosphere on Venus is so thick that a light breeze can blow rocks around!__________
4. _Venus is the closest planet to Earth_____________________________________________
5. _Venus is almost the same size as Earth__________________________________________NOTE: Remember to give the students the orbital period of this planet and have them write
Guide to Coloring the Planet
Remember, if we were to see
this planet in the night sky it
would be white, but if wewere on the surface, it would
be yellowish-brown. You are
going to color this planet, as if
we were on the surface.
Think of this planet as having3 parts: The outside edge, the
middle, and then the rest ofthe planet. Color the outsideedge light yellow. Color the
middle dark brown. Finally,
color the rest of the planet antancolor.
What planet is this? ____
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Planet #3
Location in The Solar S stem
Name of Planet:
Guide to Coloring the Planet
This planet should look familiar. It has
two parts: the land and the sea. The land
Shapes are marked with the number 1and the sea is marked by the number 2.
Color the land green and the sea blue.
What planet is this?
22
1
1
1
__________________Earth__________________
Interesting Facts
1. ______Earth is the largest of the___________
___________terrestrial planets______________
_______________________________________
2. _____Earth is the only place that__________
____supports life, that we know of so far______
_______________________________________
3. _______More than 2/3 of the Earths_______
_________surface is covered by water________
_______________________________________
4. ___Earth makes one rotation in 24 hrs___
_______and 24 hrs. equal one day.__________
_______________________________________
5. ___Earth makes one orbit in 365 days______
______and 356 days equals 1 year.__________Note: Remember to have the students write the
orbital period on their orbital period worksheet.
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Planet #4
Location in The Solar S stem
Name of Planet:
Guide to Coloring the Planet
Think of this planet as having a left andright side. Color circles on the left side
whiteand color the shapes on the right
side black. Then color the rest of the
planet a reddish-brown color.
What planet is this?
Note: Remember to have the students
write the orbital period for this planet
on their orbital period worksheet
_________Mars__________
Interesting Facts
1. __________Mars has been visited_________
________________the most________________
_______________________________________
2. _________Mars has evidence of___________
____________ancient oceans on it__________
_______________________________________
3. _________Mars is known as the___________
_______Red Planetbecause it is rusted______
_______________________________________
4. ___________Mars is the most____________
____________Earthlike planet____________
_______________________________________
5. _____Mars has the largest volcano_________
____in the Solar System, it is called________
_________Olympus Mons________________
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Planet #5
Guide to Coloring the Planet
Color this planet by thenumbers on the rows:
Row 1: Light BrownRow 2: Peach
Row 3:TanRow 4: Golden Yellow
Row 5: Light Brown
Row 6: PeachRow 7: Light Brown
*Row 8: Color the center red,The circle outside light brownand the rest of the row tanRow 9: Peach
Row 10: Light Brown
What planet is this?
Interesting Facts...
1. __Jupiter is the biggest planet in the Solar System__________________________________
2. __Jupiters red spot is a storm that is two times bigger than Earth______________________
3. __Jupiter has four big moons and many small ones_________________________________
4. __Jupiter makes one rotation in under ten hours____________________________________
5. __Jupiter takes 12 years to make 1 orbit around the Sun______________________________Note: Remember to have the students write the orbital period for this planet on thei
4
___________
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Planet #6
Location in The Solar S stem
Name of Planet:
Guide to Coloring the Planet
Color this planet according to the
numbers found on the rows.
Row 1: Tan
Row 2: Yellow
Row 3: Light Brown
Row 4: Tan
Row 5: Light Brown
Row 6: Tan
Row 7: Light Brown
Color the remaining small rows yellow
What planet is this?
2
7
65
4
________________Saturn__________
Interesting Facts
1. _______Saturn is the second______________
_____largest planet in the Solar System_______
_______________________________________
2._______Saturn has a moon with____________
_________an atmosphere, Titan_____________
_______________________________________
3. ______Saturn is so light, if it were_________
_______dumped in water it would float_______
_______________________________________
4. _______Saturns rings are made___________
_________of chunks of rock and ice__________
_______________________________________
5. ________Saturns day is 10 hrs____________
_________and 40 minutes_(Rotation)_________Note: Remember to have the students write the
orbital period for this planet on their orbital
period worksheet
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Location in The Solar S stem
Name of Planet:
Planet #7
Interesting Facts
1. ____Uranus has a thick atmosphere, but_____
_________no visible cloud features___________
_______________________________________
2. _________Uranus has 27 moons___________
_______________________________________
3. ________Uranus is the only planet_________
____________to rotate on its side____________
_______________________________________
4. _______Winter and Summer last__________
__________21 years on Uranus______________
_______________________________________
5. _____It takes Uranus 84 Earth years________
______to make one orbit around the Sun_______Note: Remember to have the students write the
orbital period for this planet on their orbital
period worksheet
2
6
5
43
1
_____________Uranus______________
Guide to Coloring the Planet
Color this planet by the numbers on the
rows.
Row 1: Lime GreenRow 2: Light Green
Row 3: Light Green
Row 4: Blue GreenRow 5: Blue Green
Row 6: Blue Green
What planet is this?
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Planet #8
Guide to Coloring the Planet
Color this planet by the
number or letter on the row:
Row 1: Dark Blue
Row 2: Light Blue
Letter A: Dark BlueRow 3: Sky Blue
Row 4: BlueRow 5: Dark Blue
What planet is this?
Interesting Facts...
1. __Neptune is the last of the Gas Giants___________________________________________
2. __Neptune has 13 known moons________________________________________________
3. __Neptune has some of the fastest wind speeds, with winds over 1,000 miles per hour______
4. __Neptune has dark storms and giant hurricanes____________________________________
5. __It takes Neptune 176 Earth years to make one orbit around the Sun___________________
Note: Remember to have the students write the orbital period for this planet on thei
_________
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Location in The Solar S stem
Name of Planet:
Planet #9
Guide to Coloring the Planet
Because we know so little about thisplanet we dont know the actual color.
But since we know this planet is a
giant ball of ice- color it
gray and purple.
What planet is this?
________Pluto________
Interesting Facts
1. _________Pluto is the smallest___________
_________planet in our Solar System_________
_______________________________________
2. ______Pluto has never been visited_________
_______________________________________
3. __Pluto is the furthest planet from the Sun,___
_____so it has the longest orbital period______NOTE: Remember to have the students write the
orbital period for this planet on their orbital
period worksheet and ask them to answer the
question at the end of their sheet.
4. ____Pluto is neither a terrestrial planet______
_____________nor a gas giant______________
5. _____Pluto is known as a double planet_____
_______because it is almost the same______
________size as its moon, Charon___________
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ORBITAL PERIODS
Directions: On the lines below, write the length of the orbital period for each planet. Be sure write your answer in the correct units (see example below).
Mercury: ____88 Earth days_________________________________________________
Venus: ____ 225 Earth days________________________________________________
Earth: ___ 365 Earth days ________________________________________________
Mars: ____687 Earth days________________________________________________
Jupiter: ____12 Earth years_________________________________________________
Saturn: ____29 Earth years_________________________________________________
Uranus: ____ 84 Earth years_________________________________________________
Neptune: ____176 Earth years________________________________________________
Pluto: ____248 Earth years________________________________________________
After looking at the orbital periods for each planet, what conclusion can you make about thelengths of the orbital paths and the distance a planet is from the Sun?
_____We are hoping students can conclude that the further a planet is_________________
_____from the Sun, the longer it will take to complete one orbit because_________________
_____it has a longer orbital path to follow.________________________________________
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Nam e: ______Teachers Guide__
Understanding Keplers Laws of Planetary Motion
Directions: Look at your choices carefully and write the correct answer in the blank provided.
1. Keplers first law says that planets travel in a _______Elliptical___ __ __ pa th arou nd the su n.
2. The diagrams below show M ars in orbit around the Sun.
a. Put an X where M ars is closest to the Sunb. Put an X where Mars receives the strongest gravitational pull from the Sun.
c. Put an X where Mars is moving fastest in its orbit.
Circular Elliptical
or or
Rectangular
Choices:
Mars
Mars
Mars
X
X
X
The Sun
The Sun
The Sun
A.
B.
C.
After looking at your answers for the diagrams above, w hat can you say about Keplers second
law?
The closer planet (in this case Ma rs) gets to the Sun -- the faster it will move. Essentially,
Keplers second law shows us that a planet will receive the strongest gravitational pull from
the Sun when its closest to the sun, so as a result will move faster in its orbital path when
closest to the Sun.
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Not to Scale
Mercury
JupiterThe Sun
Not to Scale
Earth
JupiterThe Sun
Jupiter is further away from the Sun so it has a longer orbital path to follow than Mercury.
In addition to having a longer orbital path, because Jupiter it is further away from the Sun
it receives a weaker gravitational pull from the Sun causing it to move slower.
3. Why will Jupiter take much longer to orbit the Sun than Mercury? (Look at the diagram
below for help)
4. Carefully look at the diagram below. Use the diagram to help you circle the correct answer:
NOTE: It takes Earth one year to revolve completely around the Sun, and it takes Jupiter 12
years because it is much farther from the Sun (see previous question). Since Earth and
Jupiter are on opposite sides of the Sun in the diagram, it will take less than a year for Earth
to catch up and pass Jupiter. If the diagram showed Earth and Jupiter aligned to begin with,
Based on the position of Earth in the diagram, how long would it take Earth to
pass Jupiter?
a. Less than one year
then it would take more than one year for Earth to pass it because when Earth returned to the
same spot one year later, Jupiter will have shifted some (about 1/12thof a revolution),
requiring Earth to travel a bit further to catch up.
b. Every year
c. More than one year
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How well have you learned about our Solar S
Directions: Write the name of each planet on the correct line in the diagram
Sun
1. ___Mercury__ 3. ___Earth__ 5.____Jupiter___ 7. ___Uran
2. ____Venus_____ 4. ______Mars____ 6.___Saturn______
Name: ________Tea
Earth Venus Uranus Mars Jupiter Saturn Pluto Mercury Neptune Earth Venus Uranus M
V
en
us
U
ra
n
us
M
ars
J
u
pi
te
r
Sa
tu
rn
Pl
uto
M
er
c
ur
y
N Uranus Jupiter Saturn Pluto Mercury Mars Neptune Earth Venus Uranus Mars Jupiter Sat
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Name: ______Teachers Guide___________
Date: ______________________________
How well have you learned about our Solar System?
1. What are the two different TYPES of planets in our Solar System?
There are two types of planets in our Solar System, the first 4 are
called the rock or terrestrial planets and the next four are called the
gas giants. Pluto is the only planet does not fall into either category.
orbit2. The path a planet travels around the sun is called a ________ __________.
3. What is it called when a planet spins on its axis?
_____When a planet spins on its axis, it is rotating________________________
4. Which planet completes its orbit in the shortest amount of time: Mercury or Pluto?
_____Mercury____________________________________________________
Whydoes this planet complete its orbit in the shortest amount of time?
____Mercury completes its orbit in the shortest amount of time because it is closer to
the Sun than Pluto and as a result has a shorter distance to travel_____________.
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Multiple Choice:
5. What is at the center of our Solar System?
a. Mercuryb. Mars
c. The Sund. Pluto
6. What is the hottest planet in our solar system?
a. Earth
b. Venus c. Saturnd. The Sun
7. Which planet rotates on its side?
a. Uranusb. Jupiterc. Mercuryd. Mars
8. What is the biggest planet in the Solar System?
a. Venusb. Uranus
c. Jupiterd. Earth
9. What planet would float if you put it in water?
a. Venus
b. Marsc. Saturnd. Uranus
10. What is the biggest rock planet?
a. Mercury
b. Earthc. Saturnd. Pluto
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11. What planet has a surface that most resembles the moon?
a. Jupiterb. Mercuryc. Plutod. Neptune
12. Which planet has a Great Red Spot?
a. Jupiterb. Earthc. Neptune
d. Mercury
13. What is the smallest planet in our solar system?
a. Venusb. Mercury
c. Plutod. Saturn
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