Objectives
· Describe and compare the components of the Solar System.
· Using references, compare the physical properties of the planets (e.g., size, solid or gaseous).
Kids Discover Planets Worksheet
After reading KIDS DISCOVER Planets, choose the best answer for each question.
Find your answer on the pages shown in the book icon next to each question.
Match the planet with its composition.
_____ 1. Earth_____ 2. Jupiter
_____ 3. Mars
_____ 4. Mercury
_____ 5. Neptune
_____ 6. Saturn
_____ 7. Uranus
_____ 8. Venus / A. Gas giant
B. Rocky world
9. How are Ceres and Pluto alike?
a. They are both rocky worlds. c. They are both gas giants.
b. They are both dwarf planets. d. They are both asteroids
10. What causes the surface of Mercury to fold like the skin of a dry apple?
a. The heat of the Sun.
b. The lack of water.
c. The slight shrinking of the planet as its iron core cools.
d. The freezing temperatures in the shadowed regions at the poles.
11. What is the largest known surface feature of Mercury?
a. Arecibo Vallis c. Caloris Basin
b. Borealis Planitia d. Resolution Rupes
12. How was the Caloris Basin on Mercury formed?
a. By a volcano. c. By a meteorite.
b. By a comet. d. By an asteroid.
13. What is a likely reason for Venus being hotter than Mercury?
a. Because carbon dioxide traps the Sun’s heat.
b. Because Venus has high winds.
c. Because it is named after the god of the Forge.
d. Because Venus is closer to the Sun than Mercury.
14. Which country landed a probe on the surface of Venus?
a. China c. Soviet Union
b. India d. United States
15. Why can’t we see the surface of Venus?
a. It is so far away. c. It is so small.
b. It is covered by clouds. d. The winds are so high.
16. How is Mars like Earth?
a. It has a thin carbon dioxide atmosphere.
b. It is cold, dry, and barren.
c. Its winter temperatures may be 200 degrees below freezing.
d. It has seasons.
17. The largest volcano in the Solar System is found on Mars. What is its name?
a. Arsia Mons c. Olympus Mons
b. Elysium Mons d. Ulysses Patera
18. Which of Jupiter’s moons may have life in its buried ocean?
a. Io c. Ganymede
b. Europa d. Calisto
19. Which of Jupiter’s moons has active volcanoes?
a. Io c. Ganymede
b. Europa d. Calisto
20. What is the Great Red Spot?
a. A hole in Jupiter’s clouds. c. Colorful clouds in Jupiter’s atmosphere.
b. Remains of a comet collision. d. A gigantic storm.
21. For what is Saturn best known?
a. It’s color. c. It’s rings.
b. It’s moons. d. It’s size.
22. This moon of Saturn is larger than Mercury.
a. Enceladus c. Mimas
b. Hyperion d. Titan
23. This moon is the coldest place in the Solar System.
a. Miranda c. Puck
b. Oberon d. Triton
24. Uranus’s and Neptune’s atmospheres are made of hydrogen and…
a. carbon dioxide. c. methane.
b. helium. d. oxygen.
Identify the planets in order by their distance from the Sun.
_____ 25. Earth_____ 26. Jupiter
_____ 27. Mars
_____ 28. Mercury
_____ 29. Neptune
_____ 30. Saturn
_____ 31. Uranus
_____ 32. Venus / A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
E. 5
F. 6
G. 7
H. 8
Rank the size of the planets in order from the largest to the smallest.
_____ 33. Earth_____ 34. Jupiter
_____ 35. Mars
_____ 36. Mercury
_____ 37. Neptune
_____ 38. Saturn
_____ 39. Uranus
_____ 40. Venus / A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
E. 5
F. 6
G. 7
H. 8
Classifying the Solar System
Introduction
Scientists classify planets in many different ways. Use information you gather from the Solar System Data Sheet to make decisions on how you will classify the planets.
Identify which planets are inferior planets (planets whose orbits are inside the Asteroid Belt) and which planets are superior planets (planets whose orbits are outside the Asteroid Belt).
_____ 1. Earth_____ 2. Jupiter
_____ 3. Mars
_____ 4. Mercury
_____ 5. Neptune
_____ 6. Saturn
_____ 7. Uranus
_____ 8. Venus / A. Inferior Planet
B. Superior Planet
Identify which planets are rocky planets and which planets are gas giants. `.
_____ 9. Earth_____ 10. Jupiter
_____ 11. Mars
_____ 12. Mercury
_____ 13. Neptune
_____ 14. Saturn
_____ 15. Uranus
_____ 16. Venus / A. Rocky planet
B. Gas giant
Identify which planets are classical planets (can be seen without a telescope) and which are modern planets (cannot be seen without a telescope).
_____ 17. Jupiter_____ 18. Mars
_____ 19. Mercury
_____ 20. Neptune
_____ 21. Saturn
_____ 22. Uranus
_____ 23. Venus / A. Classical planet
B. Modern planet
Venus and Uranus – The Strange Twins
Venus and Uranus are very far apart. One is made of rock and one is a gas giant. But, these two planets share one thing in common. They both rotate backwards.
Almost all objects in the Solar System (Sun, moons, planets, asteroids, etc.) rotate counterclockwise. Six of the planets rotate counterclockwise. What happened to these two planets? To answer that question, we have to go back to the beginning of the Solar System.
While the planets were forming, more than our eight planets formed in the early history of the Solar System. Large bodies formed, but were in unstable orbits around the Sun. Many collisions between the large bodies occurred.
For example, Earth was hit by a body the size of Mars. The result of the collision was the Earth’s axis being tilted 23.5o and the formation of the Moon.
A large body also hit Venus. The collision was so violent, it knocked Venus upside down. The North Pole of Venus points south and the South Pole of Venus points north. If you were on Venus, the Sun would rise in the west and set in the east. On Earth, the Sun rises in the East and sets in the west.
This is why Venus rotates backwards. A collision with a large body knocked it upside down!
The same thing happened to Uranus. A large body collided with Uranus. Instead of knocking Uranus upside down, it knocked Uranus on its side.
The North Pole points below what appears to be Uranus’s equator and the South Pole points above what appears to be Uranus’s equator.
Uranus also appears to rotate backwards (clockwise).
Venus and Uranus – The Strange Twins
After reading the short article, answer the questions.
1. In which direction to almost all of the objects in the Solar System rotate?
a. Clockwise b. Counterclockwise
2. Which two planets orbit clockwise?
a. Mercury and Venus c. Mars and Neptune
b. Earth and Uranus d. Venus and Uranus
3. What happened to cause these planets to rotate clockwise?
a. That’s the way they always rotated.
b. They originally rotate counterclockwise, stopped, and began to rotate
clockwise.
c. They were hit by large bodies in the early history of the Solar System.
d. All of the above.
4. In what direction does Venus’s North Pole point?
a. East c. South
b. North d. West
5. When the object hit Uranus, what happened?
a. It caused Uranus to flip upside down.
b. It knocked Uranus on its side.
c. It almost destroyed Uranus.
6. On Venus in which direction would the Sun appear to rise and set?
a. Rise in the west, set in the east. c. Rise in the east, set in the west.
b. Rise in the north, set in the south. d. Rise in the south, set in the north.
The Star Witness News – Mars – Up Close and Personal
1. Mars is called the ______planet.
a. blue c. red
b. green d. violet
2. Mars was named after the ______god of war.
a. Assyrian c. Greek
b. Aztec d. Roman
3. The surface area of Mars is about the same as the land areas on Earth.
a. True b. False
4. This area of Mars is shaped like a shark-fin.
a. Syrtis Major c. Hellas Basin
b. Olympus Mons d. Elysium Planita
5. This is the largest volcano in the Solar System.
a. Elysium Mons c. Olympus Mons
b. Tharsis Mons d. Nix Olympia
6. This is known as the “Eye of Mars.”
a. Arcadia Dorsa c. Gordii Dorsum
b. Solis Lacus d. Samara Vallis
7. The southern polar ice cap is made up of… (There are two or more answers to this question.)
a. frozen carbon dioxide. c. liquid nitrogen.
b. sodium chloride. d. water ice.
8. These are responsible for creating pockmarks and craters similar to those on the Moon.
a. Meteoroids c. Meteorites
b. Meteors
9. Like Earth, Mars has a lot of water.
a. True b. False
10. Earth makes about how many trips around the Sun in the same amount of time it takes Mars to make one trip?
a. 1 c. 3
b. 2 d. 4
11. When is the next year Mars will come as close to the Earth as it was in 2003?
a. 2043 c. 2287
b. 2119 d. 2369
No Spring Picnic on Neptune
1. What is Neptune’s temperature in the “springtime?”
a. 400o F. c. – 250o F.
b. 100o F. d. – 400o F.
2. Fierce winds on Neptune can reach up to ______mph. (Enter a number.)
3. The Sun is ______times dimmer than it is on Earth. (Enter a number.)
4. Neptune’s clouds in the southern hemisphere have increased in brightness over a six year period. Why?
a. Neptune is moving farther from the Sun.
b. Neptune is moving closer to the Sun.
c. The Sun is warming the southern hemisphere more than the northern
hemisphere.
d. The Sun is warming the northern hemisphere more than the southern
hemisphere.
5. Neptune is about ______times farther from the Sun than Earth. (Enter a number.)
6. It takes Neptune ______years to complete one orbit of the Sun; Neptune’s seasons are ______years long. (There are two or more answers to this question.)
a. 20 e. 12
b. 30 f. 29
c. 40 g. 86
d. 50 h. 165
7. Like the Earth’s, Neptune’s ______is responsible for its seasons.
a. distance c. length of day
b. tilt d. rotation
8. Neptune’s axis is tilted ______o.
a. 23.5 c. 53.2
b. 29.6 d. 126
9. What happens when the southern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun?
a. It receives more sunlight than the northern hemisphere.
b. It receives less sunlight than the northern hemisphere.
c. It receives the same amount of light as the northern hemisphere.
Match the angle of tilt with the planet.
_____10. Earth_____11. Jupiter
_____12. Mars
_____13. Mercury
_____14. Neptune
_____15. Pluto
_____16. Saturn
_____17. Uranus
_____18. Venus / A. 0o
B. 3.1o
C. 23.5o
D. 24o
E. 26.7o
F. 29.6o
G. 97.9o
H. 118o
I. 177.4o
History of Saturn Discovery
(modified from Cassini Educators Guide)
Procedure
1. Look at the group of the History of Discovery Cards. Make sure you understand the information on the cards.
2. Match the scientist with what he learned about Saturn or the space probe and what it discovered about Saturn.
____1. Cassini-Huygens____2. Christiaan Huygens
____3. Galileo Galilee
____4. Gerard Kuiper
____5. Hubble Space Telescope
____6. James Keeler
____7. Jean-Dominque Cassini
____8. Pioneer 11
____9. Voyagers 1 & 2
____10. William Herschel / A. Second and third space probes to fly-by Saturn; made major discoveries about Saturn.
B. Large telescope orbiting Earth; has been used to study Saturn.
C. Identified Saturn's rings; discovered the moon Titan.
D. Found a gap in Saturn's rings; gap named after this astronomer.
E. First to observe Saturn with a telescope; saw rings but didn’t know what they were.
F. First space probe to fly by Saturn.
G. First probe to orbit Saturn; Huygens probe landed on surface of Titan.
H. Discovered Saturn's moons Mimas and Enceladus.
I. Discovered Saturn's moon Titan had an atmosphere.
J. Discovered Encke's Gap in the A-ring; determined Saturn's rings were not solid but individual particles.
Saturn System Scavenger Hunt
Part 1 of 4
Use the information in the assembled Saturn System Diagram scale model to find answers to the following questions. In Sections A and B below, use the space provided to create two or three of your own questions. You must be able to answer the questions using the diagram.
Section A: Rings and Gaps
Saturn’s rings are not solid, but are composed of many chunks of ice and rock that range in size from a grain of sand to a house. The names of the rings in the order they appear from the cloud tops of Saturn outward toward the moon Titan are:
______
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Ring / Order_____1. A
_____2. B
_____3. C
_____4. D
_____5. E
_____6. F
_____7. G / A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
E. 5
F. 6
G. 7
8. Jean-Dominique Cassini is the person who discovered a division (gap) in Saturn’s rings in 1659. The ______and ______rings are on either side of the Cassini Division. (There are two answers to this question.)
a. A e. E
b. B f. F
c. C g. G
d. D
9. The narrowest rings by far are the ______ring and the ______ring. (There are two answers to this question.)
a. A e. E
b. B f. F
c. C g. G
d. D
Part 2 of 4
Section B: Moons