Solar

System
 Solar
System

Name __________________________

Date __________________________

Copyright©2013 Comp Ed, Inc. - SchoolExpress

 Our solar system consists of the sun and the
celestial bodies that revolve around the sun.

Astronomers believe our solar system is about 4.6 billion years old.

The sun is the only star in our solar system. Eight known planets and their moons,
It is an important part of our solar system. asteroids, comets, meteoroids, and
The sun is the center of our solar system. interplanetary dust, circle the sun.

A huge system made up of billions of stars revolving around a common center is called a
galaxy. Scientists believe there are hundreds of billions of galaxies in our universe. Our solar
system is part of a galaxy known as the Milky Way.

The sun is the center of our solar system. It is one of 200 million stars
that belong to the Milky Way Galaxy.

Planets and moons do not radiate light on their own, they shine by the
light they reflect from the sun.

Look up information about the Milky Way in books or on the Internet.

Write a little of what you learn on the lines below.

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

Copyright©2013 Comp Ed, Inc. - SchoolExpress 1

 The planets revolve around the sun.
They revolve at various speeds and in the same directions.
All planets except Mercury move in nearly the same plane.
The planets closer to the sun revolve faster.
Each planet, spins, or rotates on its axis.

Of the known planets, Venus, Mercury, Mars, and Earth are the inner planets. They are
closest to the sun. They are more Earth-like because their exteriors are rocky and their cores
are believed to be metal.

Only Earth is known to support life. The outer planets, separated by a belt of asteroids are
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

Write the names of the planets on the lines below.

Inner Planets Outer Planets

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

Copyright©2013 Comp Ed, Inc. - SchoolExpress 2

 1. The outer planets are gaseous and are circled by rings of ice, dust, and other different
materials.
How many outer planets are there? ____________________

2. All planets, but two, Venus and Mercury have one or more moons.
How many moons does the Earth have? ____________________

3. All planets are held in their orbits by the gravitational pull of the sun.
Look up the definition of gravity. Write it on the lines. _____________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

3. Each planet differs from the others in mass, density, and gravity.

The sun has the strongest gravitational pull in the solar system.
The sun has more gravity than any planet.

Read in books or on the Internet to find out why the sun has more gravity than any planet.
Write your answer on the lines below. Use complete sentences.

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

Copyright©2013 Comp Ed, Inc. - SchoolExpress 3

 Mass is the measured amount of material that an object contains. Density refers to how
tightly the mass is packed in a planet. The outer planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
are less dense than the inner planets.

What are the names of the inner planets?

____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________

Asteroids or planetoids are irregular in shape. They are made up of

metal and rocks. They are small planet-like objects that form the asteroid
belt between Mars and Jupiter.

When asteroids violently collide, chunks of debris break off and orbit
on their own. These small chunks are called meteoroids. Some
meteoroids can be as small as sand-like particles or much larger in size
consisting of pieces of iron and nickel.

Read the questions below. Fill in the missing word.

1. ____________________ refers to how tightly the mass is packed on a planet.

2. The outer planets are less _______________ than the inner planets.

3. Small chunks of debris that break off from asteroids are called _____________________.

Copyright©2013 Comp Ed, Inc. - SchoolExpress 4

 A meteor is sometimes called a Shooting Star.

Sometimes a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere. The friction caused by air resistance
generates so much heat that gases surrounding the meteoroid produce a bright light. This
streak of light, sometimes called a “shooting star,” is called a meteor.

Most meteoroids disintegrate before they reach the ground. Those meteoroids that do strike
the Earth’s surface are called meteorites. A few of these meteorites, weighing many tons, have
struck the Earth’s surface leaving huge craters or holes in the ground.

What is the difference between a meteor and meteorite? Write your answer on the lines below.
_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

What is a crater? Write your answer on the lines below.

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

Have you ever seen a shooting star? yes no

Read in books or on the Internet about craters on the Earth produced by meteorites.
Write some of what you learn on the lines below.

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Copyright©2013 Comp Ed, Inc. - SchoolExpress 5

 Comets

Not only do asteroids and planets orbit the

sun, but so do thousands of comets. The nucleus, or head of
a comet, consists of frozen gas and dust.

When the nucleus approaches the sun, the sun’s solar heat releases frozen
gases. This creates a cloud of gas and dust around the nucleus. It forms a tail
of glowing light often millions of miles long.

The tail streams away from the sun throughout a comet’s orbit. When a comet passes close
enough to the sun, it loses some of its mass.

While the sun and planets were being formed some astronomers believe that billions of
comets were being thrown forcefully out into a region beyond Pluto called the Oort Cloud.

The Oort Cloud, consisting of about 100 billion orbiting comets, is named after the Dutch
astronomer Jan H. Oort. The Oort Cloud is far beyond the reaches of the solar system.

The Oort Cloud is about two trillion miles from the sun. Some comets, like Haley’s
Comet, have orbits that bring them close enough to Earth so that they can be seen.

Haley’s Comet was named after an English astronomer in 1682. It can be seen passing
near Earth about every seventy-six years. The last time Haley’s Comet was visible from Earth
was 1986.

comets
Color the word.

Copyright©2013 Comp Ed, Inc. - SchoolExpress 6

 As the sun travels it spins on its axis.
The sun is 93,000,000 million miles away from the Earth.
The sun is made up of burning gases.
The gravitational pull of the sun keeps Earth from shooting off into space.
The Earth depends on the sun for light, food, and energy.

It is impossible to imagine how Technological advances have

vast the universe is and how tiny allowed astronomers to get a close
our solar system is in that universe. view of our galaxy and solar system.

Instruments like telescopes have

Make a list of some of the words that you read powerful lenses and mirrors with
about in this unit about the Solar System.
which to view our solar system more
___________________________________ accurately.
___________________________________

___________________________________

___________________________________

___________________________________

___________________________________

___________________________________

___________________________________

___________________________________

Copyright©2013 Comp Ed, Inc. - SchoolExpress 7

Draw a picture of some of the solar system. You can show some planets, the sun, comets, moons, and asteroids.

Copyright©2013 Comp Ed, Inc. - SchoolExpress 8

 atpnle _______________

mtoce _______________

rolsa _______________

ylagax _______________

etmero _______________

nsede _______________

Copyright©2013 Comp Ed, Inc. - SchoolExpress 9

 1. galaxi
galaxy
galixy __________________

2. planats
platnet
planets __________________

3. orbite
orbit
orbet __________________

4. meteor
metear
meeteor __________________

5. comit
comat
comet __________________

Copyright©2013 Comp Ed, Inc. - SchoolExpress 10

 WORD FIND
Find and circle these words.
They run down, across, and diagonally.

asteroid galaxy system axis

planet orbit comet star
meteor solar space sun

Copyright©2013 Comp Ed, Inc. - SchoolExpress 11

 solar comet sun orbit
space meteor planet dense

Copyright©2013 Comp Ed, Inc. - SchoolExpress 12

 Answers

Page 9 - planet, comet, solar, galaxy, meteor, dense

Page 10 - galaxy, planets, orbit, meteor, comet

Page 11 -

Page 12 -

Copyright©2013 Comp Ed, Inc. - SchoolExpress

Dear Educator,
Thank you for using this unit eWorkbook. Your students will enjoy
learning about this topic.

• This unit can be used as a “stand alone” unit for learning about the
given subject.

• “Supplemental” books, videos, and crafts can be incorporated with each

unit for extra learning on the given subject.

• This unit can be used with an entire classroom or children can work
individually or with a partner.
 Legal and Copyright Information
SchoolExpress.com

• This eWorkbook pdf file is copyrighted.

• You may copy the pdf file onto your hard drive, a CD rom, or other storage
media for your own use.

• You may make backup copies of this pdf file for your own use.

• You may not legally distribute this eWorkbook pdf file.

• You may print copies of the worksheet pages in this pdf file for use with your
students in your school classroom or your children in your home.

• You may print copies of the worksheet pages in this pdf file if you have
purchased this eWorkbook pdf file for use with children in an organization
such as Brownies or Cub Scouts.

• You may not share the pdf file or printed pages with other persons.

• Under no circumstances may this eWorkbook pdf file be reproduced to sell

without the written consent of “SchoolExpress”.

• This eWorkbook pdf file may not be given away at any website or through
any online or offline newsletter.