Welcome to our Solar System! Today we are going on a
scavenger hunt to learn the basic parts that make up our Solar
System including the nine planets and our largest star the
sun.
Follow the links next to the pictures of each planet by holding down the
CTRL key and clicking on the blue link.
Let’s begin at the largest star:
THE SUN:
http://www.ducksters.com/science/sun.php
1. How many of the planets in our solar system orbit around the sun?
2. The sun is located where in our solar system?
Now let’s take a look at the next planet closest to the sun:
MERCURY:
http://www.factsmonk.com/mercury_facts_kids
3. How many moons does Mercury have?
4. During the day, what is the average temperature of Mercury? During
the night?
In Roman mythology the planet Venus was known as the
goddess of love and beauty.
VENUS
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1R2ADRA_enUS351
&q=facts+about+venus+for+kids&aq=f&oq=&aqi
5. Why is it difficult for modern science to study the planet Venus?
6. Why is Venus known as the “Sister Planet” to Earth? Which planet is
“evil”?
The next planet we are very familiar with and is a place we
like to call home.
EARTH
http://www.frontiernet.net/~kidpower/earth.html
7. How many year(s) does it take for Earth to orbit the sun?
8. How long does it take the planet to rotate a full turn on its axis (tilted
side)?
This planet is known as the Red Planet and similar to Earth.
MARS
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Mars&Displ
ay=Kids
9. How many seasons does Mars have? How long do they last compared to
Earth’s seasons?
10. Humans have never walked Earth’s surface but recently scientists have
sent out robot geologists to look for what on Mars?
The planet fifth from our sun and largest of the nine planets
is
JUPITER
http://kids.nineplanets.org/jupiter.htm
11. What kind of surface does Jupiter have? Is it a solid, liquid, or gas?
12. What is Jupiter’s Great Red Spot?
This planet is famous for its rings which sit tilted on its side.
SATURN
http://www.kidscosmos.org/kid-stuff/saturnfacts.html
13. What are Saturn’s rings made out of?
14. How many moons does Saturn have that we know of today?
The next planet is very unusual and sits on its side.
URANUS
http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_kids/AskKids/uranus.sht
ml
15. Is Uranus really tiled on its side? Why do astronomers think that?
16. Why is Uranus blue?
We are familiar with the name of this next planet, which
originally came from Roman Mythology God of the Sea.
NEPTUNE
http://www.astronomy-for-kidsonline.com/planetneptune.html
17. How big was the ‘massive’ storm that scientist found on Neptune? What
did they name the storm?
18. Neptune looks like the twin on which planet?
The last and smallest planet in our Solar System is
PLUTO
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/pluto.htm
19. Why did scientist change Pluto from being a planet to a dwarf planet?
20. Why is Pluto and its moon Charon called a double system?
Our solar system has recently changed from nine planets
to eight because of Pluto’s small size. Here is a picture of all
the planets together in alignment with the sun! Which planet
is your favorite?