- Overhead Build Video (see above). Please note that clasps have been added to the build.
- Classroom Resources: Class Lesson Slides, Student Build Guide -English, Student Build Guide – Spanish, Solar System Wearables Chart, Knot Tying Guide
Objective
Students will begin to develop a concept of the Solar System, including the significance of the distance between the Sun and its orbiting planets.
Concept Overview
A planetary system, like our Solar System, is a group of planets that orbit around a central star. For an object to be called a planet, it must meet certain criteria: it needs to orbit a star, has enough gravity to form a round shape, and its gravity must be strong enough to clear other objects out of its path.
Gravity is a key force that holds our Solar System together. It is the “invisible glue” that keeps the planets in orbit around the Sun. Each planet stays on its path around the Sun because the Sun’s gravity pulls on it like a magnet.
The distance of each planet from the Sun greatly affects its environment and helps us classify the planets into three types: terrestrial planets, gas giants, and ice giants. Planets closer to the Sun, like Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, are known as terrestrial planets. They are smaller, have solid, rocky surfaces, and are hotter because they receive more direct sunlight.
Farther from the Sun are the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. These planets are much larger than the terrestrial planets and do not have solid surfaces. Instead, they are made up mostly of hydrogen and helium gases. Because they are farther from the Sun, they are much colder than the terrestrial planets. Even farther out are the ice giants, Uranus and Neptune. These planets are also large but have a different composition than the gas giants. They have icy surfaces made up of water, ammonia, and methane ice. Being the farthest from the Sun, they are the coldest planets in our Solar System. This distance also affects how long it takes for each planet to complete one orbit around the Sun; for example, while Earth takes one year to orbit the Sun, Neptune takes about 165 Earth years to complete a single orbit.
The eight planets in our solar system are in order: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune (see solar system wearables chart). It can be hard to keep track of so many planets, so we have a way to remember. We can use the sentence, “My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nachos.” We can use the first letter of each word to help us remember the planets in order from the closest to the sun to the farthest from the sun.
Science Goals
- A planetary system is a group of planets that orbit a single host star. Our planetary system is called the Solar System and is comprised of eight planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
- A planet must orbit a star, have enough gravity to force it into a spherical shape and its gravity must be strong enough to clear away other similarly sized objects near its orbit.
- Gravity is what holds the planets in our Solar System together in orbit.
- The distance a planet is from the Sun has a major impact on the environment of the planet and its orbit.
- VA SOL 4. Earth and Space Systems 4.5a: Students learn the order of the planets in the Solar System by constructing a wearable model.
- VA SOL 4. Earth and Space Systems 4.5b: The project teaches the characteristics of planets, highlighting differences between terrestrial planets, gas giants, and ice giants.
- VA SOL 4. Earth and Space Systems 4.5c: Students explore the role of gravity in keeping planets in orbit around the Sun.
- VA SOL 4. Earth and Space Systems 4.5d: The project addresses how a planet’s distance from the Sun affects its orbital period, helping students understand the varying lengths of planetary years.
Vocabulary
- planetary system – a group of planets that orbit a single host star.
- Solar System – the collection of eight planets, including Earth and their moons that orbit around the Sun.
- orbit– the repeating path that an object in space takes around another object.
- gravity – an invisible force that pulls objects toward each other.