Solar System Home Page

Planets of the Solar System

Go directly to the Planet Web Sites for Student Exploration

Introduction

In our solar system, nine planets circle around our Sun. The Sun sits in the middle while the planets travel in circular paths (called orbits) around it. These nine planets travel in the same direction (counter- clockwise looking down from the Sun's north pole).

The solar system is made up of two parts:

The inner solar system contains Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. These four planets are closest to the Sun.

The outer solar system contains Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

The inner planets are separated from the outer planets by the Asteroid Belt.

Instructions

Visit the images for each of the planets above so you can readily identify the planet by its photo. Also, scroll down to the Web Sites for Student Exploration below and visit each of the sites to learn more about the nine planets.

Lesson Objectives

Objective I: Using a personal computer and Web address list, students will navigate the Internet locating two specific Planet web sites and, locate, download, and print at least two images of your favorite planets.

Objective II: After visiting each of the given web sites, a student will add at least one Class Note of important facts to each of the nine planet worksheets found in the "The Solar System Study Guide."

Objective III: Given a web address, students will share a 3-5 minute presentation on their Favorite Planet and discuss why the planet is their favorite and why this lesson was important to them.

Web Sites for Student Exploration

The following web sites have been selected for this course. Examine each of the sites -- in order. If you have any trouble locating a site, please ask for assistance from your instructor.

Kid's Cosmos...Expanding Minds Beyond the Limits of the Universe

The Nine Planets: A Multimedia Tour of the Solar System

World Book @ NASA

Student Assessment

You will receive a grade for this lesson based on the following criteria.

Assessment	Possible Points	Percent of Points
Attendance and Participation	250 points	25%
Web Site Navigation	500 points	50%
Workbook	250 points	25%
Total Possible	1000 points	100%

Created and Maintained by Lawrence Tomei, Instructor
Email Address: mailto:lawrencetomei @yahoo.com
Astronomy 100
State Cyber College

Fair Use Statement

Permission is granted for unrestricted of the materials found on this Web Page. Author requests that any materials (text or images) acquired from these pages for inclusion in related resources carry a citation of the Author.

Created: 03/15/08
Revised: 06/01/08