NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Online Educational Activity
Educators & Students	Grades K-4

Objective:

This online educational activity for grades K-4 will allow students to learn the names, order, diameters, and simple characteristics of the planets.

National Education Standards:

Look at the planets!

National Science Education Standards:

• Science as Inquiry
• Earth and Space Science
• Objects in the sky
• Changes in earth and sky
• Properties of objects and materials

National Educational Technology Standards

• Basic Operations and Concepts
• Technology Research Tools

Our Solar System is made up of a giant star and nine planets that revolve (or circle) around it. Our solar system also contains many other smaller objects, such as moons, comets and asteroids. Our planet, Earth, is not the hottest or the coldest of the planets. It's not the largest or the smallest planet either. Each planet is unique (different) and this activity will help you learn about those differences. Follow the steps below for a peek at those whirling, twirling planets.



Before you begin, draw a large box on a piece of paper. Make the box as big as the paper. Divide it into 9 large parts and number each part like this:

Make your box just like this.

STEP #1
Learn the names of the planets and their order from the sun.

The names of the planets were chosen by early astronomers (people who study the night sky). They chose names of gods and goddesses that were believed to control the movements of the planets across the sky and things that happened on Earth. Visit the NASA Web sites listed below and discover the names of the nine planets. Write them in the numbered boxes on your paper. The planet that is closest to the sun will be number 1, the second closest will be number 2. Follow this pattern and write the name of a planet in each box.

StarChild-A Learning Center for Young Astronomers
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/planets.html

NASA's Planetary Photojournal
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov

STEP #2

Can you measure the diameter of a circle?

List the planets from smallest to largest.

This time you will list the planets in the order of their sizes. Some planets are much larger than others. Scientists measure sizes in kilometers (km). Study the following chart and look for information that gives the diameter of each planet in kilometers (km). The diameter is the distance through the center from one side to the other.

 

Planet Sizes

Planet	Diameter (km)
Saturn	120,536 km
Venus	12,103 km
Neptune	49,528 km
Mars	6,794 km
Jupiter	142,984 km
Uranus	51,118 km
Mercury	4,880 km
Pluto	2,340 km
Earth	12,756 km

Look carefully at the numbers. Which planet is the largest and which is the smallest? On the back of your paper number from 1 to 9. Write the names of the planets beside the numbers. Write the smallest planet beside number 1, the next in size beside number 2. Follow this pattern to list the planets from smallest to largest.



STEP #3
Match the name of the planet with its description.

This is where we live!

Just like students, all the planets are special. Each one has something that makes it different from all the others. After studying the following NASA web pages, match each planet with its description. Look for words that tell about its color, its surface (rock or gas), its weather, how it rotates (spins), and how it is different from the other planets.

Write the letters of the descriptions in the boxes that you made in Step #1. The description should match the name of the planet.

Project StarChild from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/planets.html

Solar System Trading Cards from the Hubble Space Telescope website
http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations/trading/directions.html

Match the name of each planet with its description. Write the answers on your paper.

Planet	Description
A	The coldest planet The smallest planet Some astronomers don't think it is a planet
B	Perfect for people Has oceans and land Atmosphere is just right for kids
C	Has a large, red spot thought to be a hurricane Is an outer planet Is so large that all the other planets could fit inside it
D	Rotates on its side Has a blue-green color Has 11 known rings
E	Has ice caps on its poles Iron in its soil gives it a red color Its moons are Phobos and Deimos
F	Named after the messenger of the gods Can be seen from Earth early in the morning or late in the evening Only the planet Pluto is smaller
G	Closest planet to Earth Rotates in the opposite direction from the other planets Covered with clouds
H	Large gas planet Surrounded by over 1000 rings made of ice and dust Has at least 18 moons
I	Has a moon named Triton Is sometimes farther away than Pluto Atmosphere has very strong winds

A Bright Idea:

Create an easy way to remember the names of the planets in order from the Sun. Make up a silly sentence. Each word in the sentence should begin with the first letter of a planet. For example:

My very energetic mother just showed us new pickles.

Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto

Now make one up that you can remember.