1. Choose a planet to explore.

2. Use this web page to help you with your planet research and project.

3. Use your graphic organizer to write down information about your planet.

Describe motion of Earth and planets in our solar system

How do the planets move in relation to the sun?

Where is the planet located in relation to the sun?

What does it look like (Check recent NASA info)?

What is the planet composed of?

What atmosphere is there?  What elements is it composed of?

What conditions, if any, would have allowed life as we know it to exist or not exist on the planet?

What satellites (moons) does it have (if any)?

What rings does it have (if any)?

How big is it?
Compared to Earth, how big is it?

Mercury

http://ellerbruch.nmu.edu/classes/cs255w03/cs255students/nbarnes/p4/Mercury.html

http://www.kidscosmos.org/kid-stuff/mercury-facts.html

http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/Mercury/MercuryBackground.html

Venus

http://ellerbruch.nmu.edu/classes/cs255w03/cs255students/nbarnes/p4/Venus.html

http://www.kidscosmos.org/kid-stuff/venus-facts.html

http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/Venus/VenusPlanet.html

Earth

http://ellerbruch.nmu.edu/classes/cs255w03/cs255students/nbarnes/p4/Earth.html

http://www.kidscosmos.org/kid-stuff/earth-facts.html

http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/Earth/Earth.html

Mars

http://ellerbruch.nmu.edu/classes/cs255w03/cs255students/nbarnes/p4/Mars.html

http://www.kidscosmos.org/kid-stuff/mars-facts.html

http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/Mars/Mars.html

Jupiter

http://ellerbruch.nmu.edu/classes/cs255w03/cs255students/nbarnes/p4/Jupiter.html

http://www.kidscosmos.org/kid-stuff/jupiter-facts.html

http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/Jupiter/Jupiter.html

Saturn

http://ellerbruch.nmu.edu/classes/cs255w03/cs255students/nbarnes/p4/Saturn.html

http://www.kidscosmos.org/kid-stuff/saturn-facts.html

http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/Saturn/SaturnHistory.html

Uranus

http://ellerbruch.nmu.edu/classes/cs255w03/cs255students/nbarnes/p4/Uranus.html

http://www.kidscosmos.org/kid-stuff/uranus-facts.html

http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/Uranus/UranusPlanet.html

Neptune

http://ellerbruch.nmu.edu/classes/cs255w03/cs255students/nbarnes/p4/Neptune.html

http://www.kidscosmos.org/kid-stuff/neptune-facts.html

http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/Neptune/NeptunePlanet.html

(Pluto **Please note that Pluto is no longer considered a planet)

http://ellerbruch.nmu.edu/classes/cs255w03/cs255students/nbarnes/p4/Pluto.html

http://www.kidscosmos.org/kid-stuff/pluto-facts.html

http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/Pluto/Pluto.html

Information on all planets:

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

http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/welcome/mercury.htm

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planets/mercurypage.html

http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics/our_solar_system/mercury/facts.html

http://www.eaas.co.uk/news/solar_system.html

Planet Fact Sheet

The Planets in Our Solar System

Planet	Distance from the Sun (Astronomical Units miles km)	Period of Revolution Around the Sun (1 planetary year)	Period of Rotation (1 planetary day)	Mass (kg)	Diameter (miles km)	Apparent size from Earth	Temperature (K Range or Average)	Number of Moons
Mercury	0.39 AU, 36 million miles 57.9 million km	87.96 Earth days	58.7 Earth days	3.3 x 10^23	3,031 miles 4,878 km	5-13 arc seconds	100-700 K mean=452 K	0
Venus	0.723 AU 67.2 million miles 108.2 million km	224.68 Earth days	243 Earth days	4.87 x 10^24	7,521 miles 12,104 km	10-64 arc seconds	726 K	0
Earth	1 AU 93 million miles 149.6 million km	365.26 days	24 hours	5.98 x 10^24	7,926 miles 12,756 km	Not Applicable	260-310 K	1
Mars	1.524 AU 141.6 million miles 227.9 million km	686.98 Earth days	24.6 Earth hours =1.026 Earth days	6.42 x 10^23	4,222 miles 6,787 km	4-25 arc seconds	150-310 K	2
Jupiter	5.203 AU 483.6 million miles 778.3 million km	11.862 Earth years	9.84 Earth hours	1.90 x 10^27	88,729 miles 142,796 km	31-48 arc seconds	120 K (cloud tops)	18 named (plus many smaller ones)
Saturn	9.539 AU 886.7 million miles 1,427.0 million km	29.456 Earth years	10.2 Earth hours	5.69 x 10^26	74,600 miles 120,660 km	15-21 arc seconds excluding rings	88 K	18+
Uranus	19.18 AU 1,784.0 million miles 2,871.0 million km	84.07 Earth years	17.9 Earth hours	8.68 x 10^25	32,600 miles 51,118 km	3-4 arc seconds	59 K	15
Neptune	30.06 AU 2,794.4 million miles 4,497.1 million km	164.81 Earth years	19.1 Earth hours	1.02 x 10^26	30,200 miles 48,600 km	2.5 arc seconds	48 K	2
Pluto	39.53 AU 3,674.5 million miles 5,913 million km	247.7 years	6.39 Earth days	1.29 x 10^22	1,413 miles 2,274 km	0.04 arc seconds	37 K	1 large (plus 2 tiny)
Planet	Distance from the Sun (Astronomical Units miles km)	Period of Revolution Around the Sun (1 planetary year)	Period of Rotation (1 planetary day)	Mass (kg)	Diameter (miles km)	Apparent size from Earth	Temperature (K Range or Average)	Number of Moons

Make a webpage about your planet.

Use Word to make your webpage.

Use the information on your graphic organizer on your webpage.

Don’t forget to copy and paste graphics to go with your information.

Ask a teacher to help you print out or save your webpage.

Choose a project:

Ms. Welch will go over the learning contract with you before we sign it.

1. Build a model/diorama

2. Write a non-fiction book/report

3. Create a web page in word

4. Write and then sing a song

5. Act out/Pretend you are a planet and tell about yourself and the things around you.

Learning Contracts and Rubrics for Evaluation

Return home to Ms. Welch’s Class