The Earth is the third planet from the Sun in our Solar System. It is the only planet in our Solar System that is known to support life.

The Earth has one moon.

Each day on Earth takes 23.93 hours.

At the equator, the Earth's surface moves about 1040 miles/hr (1670 km/hr).

The Earth has many layers.

The Earth is 4.5 billion years old. Fossil records show that life began on Earth at least 3.5 billion years ago.

The Earth is one of nine planets orbiting the sun. Remember the order of the planets with this nonsense line:

My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas.

The capital letters stand for the order of the planets, starting closest to the sun:

Sun (star)

Mercury

Venus

Earth

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Pluto

Today 71% of the Earth is covered with water, 29% by the continents.

The percentage covered by water will increase as the Earth continues to warm and polar ice caps melt.

More Planet info http://kids.nineplanets.org/general2.htm

NASA http://www.nasa.gov/home/

NASA Kids http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/

Astronomy Picture of the day http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Nine planets http://www.nineplanets.org/

Planets http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/

Read about a newly discovered planet http://www.solarviews.com/eng/tenthplanet.htm

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