Webquest
Name: ________________________________
Directions: Answer the following questions using the website listed below.
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/planets.html
1. How many planets are in our solar system (including the earth)?
2. Write the names of all of the planets in our universe below.
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3. Color each of the planets below!
MERCURY
MARS
VENUS
JUPITER
URANUS
EARTH
SATURN
NEPTUNE
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4. Click on Mercury to learn more about this planet!
a. What is the surface of Mercury like? Describe it.
b. What is the daytime temperature of Mercury? Why is it so
hot?
c. What is the nighttime temperature of Mercury?
d. How much water and air are on the surface of Mercury?
5. Click on Venus to learn more about this planet!
a. How big is Venus?
b. Describe the clouds on Venus. What do they cause?
c. How hot is the surface of Venus? Why?
d. What is the surface of Venus like? Describe it.
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6. Click on Mars to learn more about this planet!
a. What is Mars sometimes called?
b. What is the surface of Mars like? Describe it.
c. What is the temperature of Mars’ surface?
d. How has water changed the surface of Mars? Explain.
7. Click on Jupiter to learn more about this planet!
a. How big is Jupiter, when compared to the Earth?
b. What is the surface of Jupiter like? Describe it.
c. What is the “big red spot”?
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8. Click on Saturn to learn more about this planet!
a. How big is Saturn?
b. What is Saturn most known for?
c. What is the surface of Saturn like? Describe it.
d. Describe the rings of Saturn.
9. Click on Uranus to learn more about this planet!
a. How does Uranus spin?
b. What is the atmosphere of Uranus like? Describe it.
c. What is the surface of Uranus like? Describe it.
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10. Click on Neptune to learn more about this planet!
a. How big is Neptune?
b. Explain the weather on Neptune’s surface.
c. What is the atmosphere of Neptune like? Explain.
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Webquest
Answer Key
Directions: Answer the following questions using the websites listed below.
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/planets.html
1. How many planets are in our solar system (including the earth)?
8, not including Pluto. 9, including Pluto.
2. Write the names of all of the planets in our universe below.
Mercury, Mars, Venus, Earth, Saturn, Uranus, Jupiter, Neptune, and
sometimes Pluto!
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3. Color each of the planets below!
MERCURY
MARS
VENUS
JUPITER
URANUS
EARTH
SATURN
NEPTUNE
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4. Click on Mercury to learn more about this planet!
a. What is the surface of Mercury like? Describe it.
It is a barren, rocky surface, similar to the moon.
b. What is the daytime temperature of Mercury? Why is it so
hot?
400 Celsius, because it is the closest planet to the sun.
c. What is the nighttime temperature of Mercury?
-180 Celsius
d. How much water and air are on the surface of Mercury?
None, although there may be some locked under the surface.
5. Click on Venus to learn more about this planet!
a. How big is Venus?
It is similar to earth but slightly smaller.
b. Describe the clouds on Venus? What do they cause?
Venus is surrounded by clouds consisting of mercury, ferric chloride
hydrocarbons and sulphuric acid. These clouds create the most
corrosive acid rain found anywhere in our solar system.
c. How hot is the surface of Venus? Why?
500 Celsius, because the clouds trap in the heat.
d. What is the surface of Venus like? Describe it.
The surface of Venus is often described as a "stormy desert" full of
many craters and very active volcanoes.
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6. Click on Mars to learn more about this planet!
a. What is Mars sometimes called?
Red Planet
b. What is the surface of Mars like? Describe it.
It has a dusty, rocky surface and a thin atmosphere. It is covered
with rust-like dust.
c. What is the temperature of Mars’ surface?
Temperatures range from -120 Degrees Celsius on winter nights to 25
Degrees Celsius in the summer.
d. How has water changed the surface of Mars? Explain.
Mars has many channels, plains and canyons on the surface which
could have been caused by water erosion in the past.
7. Click on Jupiter to learn more about this planet!
a. How big is Jupiter, when compared to the Earth?
Jupiter is the largest planet in our Solar system. It is so big that more
than 1300 Earths could fit inside it.
b. What is the surface of Jupiter like? Describe it.
Thick, colorful clouds of deadly poisonous gases surround Jupiter.
Jupiter has many storms raging on the surface. If you were to
descend into Jupiter, the thin, cold atmosphere becomes thicker
and hotter, gradually turning into a thick, dark fog. The pressure
squeezes the atmosphere so hard that it becomes like liquid.
c. What is the “big red spot”?
The big red spot which is the largest hurricane in our Solar System. It's
been raging for over three hundred years.
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8. Click on Saturn to learn more about this planet!
a. How big is Saturn?
Saturn is the second largest planet in our solar system and is another
gas giant.
b. What is Saturn most known for?
Perhaps the most beautiful planet in our solar system (other than
earth of course) due to its spectacular ring system.
c. What is the surface of Saturn like? Describe it.
Saturn is not a peaceful planet. Storm winds race around the
atmosphere at 800kmp/h. Saturn has a small rocky core covered
with liquid gas.
d. Describe the rings of Saturn.
The rings are made up of millions of ice crystals, some as big as
houses and others as small as specks of dust.
9. Click on Uranus to learn more about this planet!
a. How does Uranus spin?
It spins on its side, like a barrel.
b. What is the atmosphere of Uranus like? Describe it.
Uranus’s atmosphere is mostly hydrogen but it also contains large
amounts of a gas called methane. Methane absorbs red light and
scatters blue light so a blue-green methane haze hides the interior of
the planet from view.
c. What is the surface of Uranus like? Describe it.
Uranus hides its interior but scientists guess that under the hydrogenmethane atmosphere is a hot, slushy ocean of water, ammonia and
methane thousands of miles deep wrapped around a rocky core.
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10. Click on Neptune to learn more about this planet!
a. How big is Neptune?
Neptune is a large planet, nearly four times the size of Earth.
b. Explain the weather on Neptune’s surface.
Neptune suffers the most violent weather in our Solar System. Storms
have been spotted swirling around its surface and freezing winds
that blow about ten times faster than hurricanes on Earth make it the
windiest planet.
c. What is the atmosphere of Neptune like? Explain.
Neptune is a large, water planet with a blue hydrogen-methane
atmosphere and faint rings
*** This activity could be done by providing students with a
computer and the sheet and allowing them to work through it, or the
teacher could use it as a stations activity. The teacher would simply
need 7 laptops or Chromebooks and have one at each station.
Then the teacher could load the information for each planet on the
computer at each station and students could rotate through each in
small groups until they have visited all 7 stations.
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