Multimedia Material on the Solar
System
By
Dr. Chien-Hung Lin
(林 建 宏
博士)
The Solar System
Science Vocabulary
The Sun, Moon, & Inner Planets
Relative Size & Relative Distance
Interaction-- Earth & the Sun
Structure of the Solar System
The Outer Planets
The Planet Movement
Interaction-- Earth & the Moon
When I look at the sky,
I always wonder what
I am seeing? Is it a
bird? Is it a plane?
What is up there?
Good question! Most
of the objects you
see are stars. A few of
the objects you will
see are planets.
The planets?
Yes. Some are a
little like Earth, and
some are amazingly
different.
Really? What are
these planets exactly?
Do you know
anything about the
Sun, Moon and stars?
Well, I don’t know.
Let me take you a
tour to the sky. I will
help you learn
through many
interesting pictures,
songs, and websites.
That sounds great.
Are you ready? Let’s
explore the space!
Science Vocabulary
Science Vocabulary
I am so excited. Please
teach me new words.
Before exploring the
sky, I would like to give
you a quick preview on
some vocabulary
words. At this time,
you just get a feel
about what they are.
I am so excited. Please
teach me new words .
First of all, you have to
know the Solar System.
The Solar System is the
Sun and the objects that
orbit around it.
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/
The Sun is the center
of the Solar System. It
is a star.
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/
A planet is a large body
of rock or gas that orbits
the sun.
The Solar System has nine
planets, including Earth.
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/
1. Mercury 2. Venus
3. Earth
4. Mars
They are the four planets
closest to the Sun. They are
called the inner planets.
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/
1. Jupiter
3. Uranus
5. Pluto
2. Saturn
4. Neptune
Their surfaces are colder than
the inner planets because they
are farther away from the Sun.
They are called the outer planets.
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Could you please
teach me how to
pronounce these
planets?
Why don’t you try this website?
Click on each picture then you
will hear the name of the
planet. Don’t forget to make
sure your flash player in the
computer and your speakers
are working.
Click the laptop!
http://www.iknowthat.com/ScienceIllustrations/solarsystem/science_desk.html
Wow!! That’s so much
to know. I would like
to know more about
the Solar System.
No problem. Let me
take you a tour to
the Solar System.
Structure of the
Solar System
Structure of the Solar System
The Solar System is the Sun
and the objects that orbit
around it. An orbit is the
path an object takes as it
moves around another
object in space. All the
planets, including Earth, are
in orbit around the Sun.
Structure of the Solar System
Now, I understand
there are nine planets.
I am wondering if the
Moon is also in the
Solar System.
Yes. The Solar System also
has many moons. Moons
are large, rocky objects
that orbit planets. Earth
has one moon. Other
planets have no moons or
many moons.
The Sun & Moon &
Inner Planets
The Sun, Moon, & Inner Planets
Let me take you
a closer look at
the Sun, Moon
and inner planets.
The Sun
Mercury
The Moon
Venus
Earth
Mars
http://hometown.aol.com/bobalien99/
Ok. I will try
my best.
Before learning the nine
planets, why don’t you try
yourself to see how much
you know about them?
Click the laptop!
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/kidsclub/flash/games/levelfive/KC_Solar_System.html
The Sun looks so
small in the sky. Is
it very far from us?
The Sun is 93 million
miles from Earth! If
somehow you could fly
an airplane to the Sun, it
would take you 26 years.
The Sun gives us heat
and light necessary for
us to live. Without the
Sun, Earth would be a
frozen ball of ice.
What do we get
from the Sun?
1.
Can you tell me
more about the
inner planets?
2.
3.
4.
The Inner Planets
The inner planets are closest planets
to the Sun.
They are warmer and smaller than
the other planets.
All of them are made of solid, rocklike
materials.
The inner planets have few, if any
satellites.
No problem! Mercury, Venus,
Earth, and Mars are called
the inner planets. In their
early years, they were
constantly stuck by other
objects in space. As a result,
craters cover their surfaces.
The Sun
1. The Sun is the only star in
the Solar System.
2. It is very hot and bright.
3. It is also big.
What about the Sun? I
remember you said it
is the center of the
Solar System earlier.
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Right, smart girl. The
Sun is a star—a hot ball
of glowing gases. It
looks different to us
from other stars
because it is closer to
us than other stars are.
The Moon
1. The Moon is Earth's only
natural satellite.
2. It is the second brightest
object in the sky after the Sun.
3. It is the fifth largest moon inYou are right! If you want to
know more about it, you can go
the Solar System.
http://www.nasa.gov/audience
I know American Neil 4. It has no atmosphere.
/forkids/home/F_First_Person_
on_Moon.html to check it out.
Besides, the Moon is a cold, dry
orb whose surface is studded
with craters and strewn with
rocks and dust.
Armstrong has
become the first man
to walk on the Moon.
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Mercury
1. Mercury is the closest to the Sun.
2. It has a very hot side and a cold side.
3. There is no water and very little air.
Well, I am very surprised
to know that Mercury is
the closest to the Sun but
it doesn’t have any air
around it. It must be very
cold at night because
there is no atmosphere to
trap the daytime heat.
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Very good. What you say
about Earth is very
impressive.
Now, let me tell you
something about
Mercury.
Venus
Oh, I can sing the song,
Venus. “I am your
Venus. I am your fire at
your desire.”
So what’s special about
Venus?
1. Venus is almost the same size as Earth, but
the two planets are very different.
2. Like Mercury, Venus has no water.
3. Its atmosphere is made up mostly of carbon
dioxide. This gas covers Venus like a thick
blanket. It traps heat, making Venus the
hottest planet in the Solar System.
Wow. You have a beautiful
voice. Although Mercury is the
closest to the Sun, Venus is
hotter. The atmosphere
around it traps the heat.
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Earth
Well, I just read about Earth in
Science book last night. Let me
tell you something about Earth.
1. Earth is the only planet that we
know supports life.
2. Earth’s atmosphere keeps it from
getting too hot or too cold.
3. Earth has water and oxygen.
These things make Earth the
special, life-supporting member
of the Solar System.
Let me ask you a
question. What do you
know about Earth?
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Mars
1. Mars is smaller than Earth but has two moons.
2. Its thin atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide.
3. Craters and inactive volcanoes cover most of the
surface. One of Mars’s volcanoes is the highest
known mountain in the Solar System. It is more than
25 kilometers high!
Mars is known as “the
red planet” because of
its reddish surface.
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/
The Outer Planets
The Outer Planets
Yes. I remember! They
are called the outer
planets.
Do you remember what
they are called? I
mentioned them earlier.
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/
The Outer Planets
1. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
and Neptune are giants
made up mostly of gas.
Each has moons and a ring
system.
2. Saturn’s rings are quite
famous. Pluto, the last of
the outer planets, is a bit
different from the others.
It is solid, rocky and small..
The five outer planets
are far from the Sun.
Because of this, they
are dark and cold.
Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, and Neptune
are giants made up
mostly of gas.
http://hometown.aol.com/bobalien99/
Jupiter
1. Jupiter is the largest planet in our
Solar System.
2. It has 17 moons plus 11 new
moons that have just been
discovered and a thin ring of dust.
3. Thick, icy clouds of ammonia and
water make up much of Jupiter.
That is one of its
features-Great Red
Spot. Scientists think
that a large storm
causes this spot.
What are these
spots in the
photo of Jupiter?
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Saturn
1. Beyond Jupiter is Saturn,
the second largest planet
and another gas giant.
2. Saturn has 16 moons
that we know of.
Yes. The rings are
made of chunks of
ice and rock.
Wow, look at
beautiful shiny rings!
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Uranus
That is a bluish fog
covering Uranus, the
seventh planet.
1. This gas giant has faint gray
rings and 17 moons.
Scientists think the rings
might be made of graphite,
the material used in pencils.
2. Uranus rotates on such a
tilted axis that it looks as if
it’s lying on its side.
Why Uranus is blue?
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Neptune
Neptune is the last of the gas
giants. It has a Great Dark Spot,
similar to the spot on Jupiter.
Neptune has rings
and eight moons.
Another planet in blue?
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Pluto
Pluto is the
farthest planet
from the Sun.
1. Pluto is the ninth and farthest
planet from the Sun.
2. It is dark and cold. From distant
Pluto the Sun is just a small
point of light.
3. Pluto is made up of a mixture of
rocky materials and frozen
gases. It has a thin atmosphere
and one large moon.
Farthest planet
from the Sun?
It must be very,
very cold.
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Fact Sheet of the Planets in Our Solar System
Planet
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Planet
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
Distance from the Period of Revolution
Period of Rotation
Sun
Around the Sun
0.39 AU, 36 million
miles
87.96 Earth days
58.7 Earth days
57.9 million km
0.723 AU
67.2 million miles
224.68 Earth days
243 Earth days
108.2 million km
1 AU
93 million miles
365.26 days
24 hours
149.6 million km
1.524 AU
24.6 Earth hours
141.6 million miles
686.98 Earth days
=1.026 Earth days
227.9 million km
Distance from the Period of Revolution
Period of Rotation
Sun
Around the Sun
5.203 AU
483.6 million miles 11.862 Earth years
9.84 Earth hours
778.3 million km
9.539 AU
886.7 million miles 29.456 Earth years
10.2 Earth hours
1,427.0 million km
19.18 AU
1,784.0 million miles
2,871.0 million km
30.06 AU
2,794.4 million miles
4,497.1 million km
39.53 AU
3,674.5 million miles
5,913 million km
Mass
(kg)
Diameter
Number of Moons
3.3 x 1023
3,031 miles
4,878 km
0
4.87 x 1024
7,521 miles
12,104 km
0
5.98 x 1024
7,926 miles
12,756 km
1
6.42 x 1023
4,222 miles
6,787 km
2
Mass
(kg)
Diameter
Number of Moons
1.90 x 1027
88,729 miles
142,796 km
18 named (plus many
smaller ones)
5.69 x 1026
74,600 miles
120,660 km
18+
84.07 Earth years
17.9 Earth hours
8.68 x 1025
32,600 miles
51,118 km
15
164.81 Earth years
19.1 Earth hours
1.02 x 1026
30,200 miles
48,600 km
2
247.7 years
6.39 Earth days
1.29 x 1022
1,413 miles
2,274 km
1 large (plus 2 tiny)
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/
Where, Oh Where Does That Little
Planet Go?
Why don’t you try to
put the number of the
orbit pattern that
belongs to each object
in the box under the
objects’ name?
Click the laptop!
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/activity/planet_go.html
Why don’t you try again
to see if you get more
understanding about it?
Maybe you will also learn
something new from this
activity.
No problem!
Click the laptop!
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/kidsclub/flash/games/levelfive/KC_Solar_System.html
Relative Size &
Relative Distance
Relative Size
Are they different
sizes? I never
notice they are
different in size.
That is relative size.
Relative size means how
big something is compared
to something else. For
example, compared to a
whale you are very small;
but, compared to an ant,
you are enormous! This is
the same for planets.
http://www.the-solar-system.net/
Compared to Jupiter,
our Earth is rather
small; but, compared to
the planet Pluto, our
Earth is very large. Our
own world seems
pretty big to us but we
are by no means the
largest planet in the
Solar System.
Jupiter has 317 times
more mass than Earth
and Saturn is 95 times
as massive as Earth. But
even with those
planetary giants, the
Sun contains 99.86% of
the mass of the entire
Solar System.
This picture gives
the relative sizes
of the Sun and
the planets that
orbit around it.
http://www.astrocentral.co.uk/planetsize.html
Movie Clips for the Size of Planets
http://www.fugly.com/videos/6790/the_size_of_planets_and_stars.html
Is this a movie
clip for relative
size? Wow, let’s
watch it
together.
Click the planets to start!
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/messenger/psc/PlanetSize.html
Why don’t you try
to compare the
sizes of the planets
on your own?
No problem! It’s
my show time.
Relative Distance
http://hometown.aol.com/bobalien99/
Ok. I’ll try.
Why don’t you try to
read relative
distance by yourself?
Relative Distance— Astronomical Unit
Relative distance deals with comparing
distances of different objects from the
Sun. We could use astronomical unit to
visualize the relative distance of the
planets from the Sun and one another.
(Astronomical Unit is equal to 93 million
miles.)
So now I understand if I
want to compare the
distance of any planet
from the Sun, I can
compare its distance from
the Sun to the Earth’s
distance from the Sun.
Speaking of the Earth’s
distance from the Sun, I
remember I just learned it
would take me 26 years if
I could flay an airplane to
the Sun.
The distance from Earth to the Sun is one astronomical unit, or 1
AU. From the Sun:
Mercury would be 0.39 AU away.
Venus would be 0.72 AU away.
Mars would be 1.52 AU away.
Jupiter would be 5.2 AU away.
Saturn would be 9.5 AU away.
Uranus would be 20 AU away.
Neptune would be 30 AU away.
Pluto would be 39.4 AU away.
The Planet
Movement
The Planet Movement
All the planets in the Solar System move in two ways: rotation and
revolution. Rotation is the spinning of an object on its axis. Revolution is
the movement of one object around another object.
Each planet rotates on an axis and revolves around the Sun. However, the
planets have many differences. They rotate at different speeds. A day on
Earth is 24 hours long, but a day on Venus is 243 Earth days long. The
planets revolve around the Sun at different speeds, too. One year on
Pluto lasts about 250 Earth years.
Click the orbit to create your own Solar System
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/fun/make-a-solar-system.htm
I am going to
create my own
kingdom!
Interaction—
Earth and the Sun
Interaction—Earth and the Sun
With the rotation, half of
Earth is in sunlight, the
other half is in darkness at
any one time. The half in
sunlight has day, and the
half in darkness has night.
Day and Night
Day and night happen as
Earth rotates. Earth spins
on its axis, an imaginary
line that goes through the
North Pole and the South
Pole, once every 24 hours.
Why there is
day and night?
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/
Seasons
1. The tilt of the Earth's axis is the
most important reason why
seasons occur.
2. We have hot summers and cold
winters because of the tilt of the
Earth's axis.
We have seasons
because the Earth is
tilted as it makes its
yearly journey
around the Sun.
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/the_universe/uts/seasons_orbit.5x7_jpg_ima
ge.html&edu=elem
Interaction—Earth and the Sun
As you said, because of the tilt the
Earth will lean towards the Sun
(Summer) or lean away from the
Sun (Winter) 6 months later. In
between these, Spring and Autumn
will occur. I still don’t get it. Could
you explain it more?
Let’s look at this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIT
fNkNxYOM&feature=related
You may be much clearer
about it.
Click the laptop!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kITfNkNxYOM&feature=related
Interaction—
Earth and the Moon
Interaction—Earth and the Moon
How does the
Moon orbit
Earth?
Try this website and
let’s watch it together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=vO1Yqd8Y2io&feature=related
Click the laptop!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO1Yqd8Y2io&feature=related
Interaction—Earth and the Moon
The Moon also rotates and
revolves. The half of the Moon
that faces the Sun is always
lighted. As the Moon revolves
around Earth, different
amount of its lighted and dark
sides face Earth. The Moon’s
phase depends on the part of
the lighted half we can see.
Animation of the Moon’s Phases
http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moonphase/
Wow. Look at
that! Amazing!
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112188/moon_phases.htm
http://www.astronomytoday.com/astronomy/earthmoon.html
The Moon’s Phases
Phases are the different shapes the Moon seems
to have in the sky.
It takes about 29 days for the Moon to pass through
all of its phases. Then the phases repeat. The four
main phases of the Moon are new Moon, first
quarter, full Moon and last quarter.
Here are some other websites you can visit on
the planets and our Solar System:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Universe - Level 1 & The Universe - Level 2
Planet Impact!
Views of the Solar System
Our Solar System: The Planets and Their Motion
Astronomy for Kids
Field Guide to the Universe
Welcome to the Planets
Now, you should be familiar with:
1.Science vocabulary
2.Structure of the solar system
3.The Sun, the Moon, and the inner planets
4.The outer planets
5.Relative size and relative distance (AU)
6.The planet movement—rotation and revolution
7.Interaction between Earth and the Sun—Seasons, day and night
8.Interaction between Earth and the Moon—The Moon’s phases
Thank you for the viewing!
~ The End ~