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Astronomy
Solar System Overview for Kids
Meet the sun and the eight planets
Related Worksheets
Our Solar System is a busy space neighborhood with the Sun at the center and eight planets traveling around it. The Sun is a star, and its light and heat make life on Earth possible. Learning the order of the planets helps students understand where Earth fits in space. It also shows how different planets can be rocky, gassy, hot, cold, small, or giant.
Key Facts
- Planet order from the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
- The Sun is a star and contains most of the mass in the Solar System.
- Inner planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are small, rocky planets.
- Outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are large planets made mostly of gas or ice.
- A planet's year is the time it takes to orbit the Sun once.
- Speed = distance ÷ time.
Vocabulary
- Sun
- The Sun is the star at the center of our Solar System that gives off light and heat.
- Planet
- A planet is a large round object that orbits a star.
- Orbit
- An orbit is the curved path an object follows around another object in space.
- Inner planets
- The inner planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, which are closest to the Sun and have rocky surfaces.
- Outer planets
- The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, which are farther from the Sun and much larger than the inner planets.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Putting the planets in the wrong order is incorrect because the correct order from the Sun is Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
- Calling the Sun a planet is incorrect because the Sun is a star that makes its own light.
- Thinking all planets are the same size is incorrect because Jupiter is much larger than Earth, while Mercury is much smaller.
- Saying planets move in perfect circles is not quite correct because planets travel in slightly stretched paths called ellipses.
Practice Questions
- 1 Write the eight planets in order from the Sun, then number them 1 through 8.
- 2 Earth is the 3rd planet from the Sun and Neptune is the 8th planet from the Sun. How many planet positions are between Earth and Neptune?
- 3 Jupiter is much farther from the Sun than Mars. Which planet do you think has the longer year, and why?