The Solar
System
The Solar
System in General
Age
In Space
When you celebrate your birthday, the Earth has circled the sun
once from your last birthday. A year on Earth is 365 days long
but the length of a year on other planets changes with the distance
the planet is away from the sun. Here is a table of one revolution
around the sun for the nine planets.
Explore
the Solar System
Just click on the sun, any of the planets, an asteroid or a comet
to find more information. From Kids
Astronomy.
Exploring
Planets in the Classroom
Loads of earth and solar system science experiments, such as
gelatin volcanoes, alka seltzer rockets.
Finding
the Size of the Sun and Moon
In this activity you'll learn how to build a simple pinhole viewer.
This apparatus can be used to project images from a variety of
light sources. When used to project an image of the Sun, the
pinhole viewer can be used to determine the diameter of Sun.
Galileo:
the Telescope & the Laws of Dynamics
Galileo did not invent the telescope, but he was the first to
use the telescope to study the heavens systematically. He discovered
the moons of Jupiter, proved Copernicus' solar system model was
correct, and while observing sunspots concluded the sun revolved,
heretical notions in his day.
Grey
Olltwit's "Our Solar System"
Windows. Free Software. A journey through the solar system similar
to the screen saver available on this site, except that you can
learn more about each of the planets. Stop the action and choose
which planet you wish to view and learn more about. Compressed
file size - 917 KB.
Jack
and Jill's Adventures with Temperature
In space there are extremes of temperatures. Read the story,
and if you can get ahold of some dry ice, do the experiments.
Kepler's Three Laws of Planetary Motion
Animation helps explain the concepts. German mathematician Johannes Kepler found that planetary orbits
are not circles, but ellipses. Kepler described planetary motion
according to three laws. An interactive site where you can play
around with the varibles of Kepler's Laws.
NASA
Activities and Projects
A set of lesson plans with projects for young students. Print
out and enjoy. Learn about Northern lights and solar sprites
and storms. Explore the earth's magnetic field.
The
Order of the Planets
Using the "clue cards" and printouts of the planets
provided, you'll learn about the order of planets in our solar
system.
Planet
Chachachawowa
Hi! I'm Eddy the Eco-Dog®! I'm from Planet Chachachawowa
and I surf through the universe. Which planet are you from?
Scale
Models of the Solar System
The following activities are designed for upper elementary and/or
middle school. Each is designed to aid students in understanding
the nature of solar system in terms of the sizes and/or distances
of objects in the solar system.
The
Size and Distance of the Planets
In this activity, using planet
printouts provided, you'll investigate the concepts of relative
size and distance by creating a basic model of our solar system.
Solar
System Live
See how the planets arranged themselves on any day of any year.
An "adjustable" solar system.
Solar
System Coloring Book
Select your favorite planet, the sun, asteroids or comets to
color online or print and color offline.
Starry Skies
Fragments from an exploding fireball were recovered in Canada.
The pieces of meteorite are being studied and may reveal secrets
about the early solar system.
What's
Happening in the Heavens
Old Farmer's Almanac will help amateur astronomers find planets
and phases of the moon.
Your
Weight On Other Worlds
Just enter your weight and this site calculates how much you
would weigh under the gravity on all the other planets.
The Sun
Smile!
It's a sunbeam!
Without the sun, life as we see it today could not exist. Maybe
that is why humans have looked to the sun as an inspiration;
a symbol of hope and new beginnings. We study it, tell stories
about it, and wonder about this critical part of our solar system.
Solar System
in Action
The Sun is the Power House for the entire Solar System. It is
a fairly typical star that is not burning, but is fusing together
Hydrogen to form Helium. In so doing, it releases energy in vast
quantities.
SPACE.com
Cam: Sun Animated
This real-time movie, which shows the most recent 48 hours of
solar activity, is updated every hour if satellite communications
permit. The image is generated by the Solar and Heliospheric
Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft.
Stanford Solar
Center
Students can explore the Sun's tangled magnetic field, its turbulent
surface motions, the dramatic sunspot cycle, and even what magic
happens in the solar interior where instrumental eyes cannot
penetrate.
Sun
Image
Huge, live image of the sun, updated periodically, from the Institute for Astronomy,
University of Hawai`i
Where
Is the Sun?
With this activity you can verify that the Sun appears in a different
location at a specific time every day of the year with one exception.
Earth
Our Planet - Earth Science
Experiments to discover more about our earth.
The Moon
24 Hours of Chaos: The Day The Moon Was Made
For 25 years, scientists have pondered a theory that the Moon was created when an object the size of Mars crashed into Earth less than 100 million years after the Sun was born, some 4.6 billion years ago. The general idea has been run through the paces and massaged into shape and is now the favored explanation.
Building
a Lunar Settlement
You and your family will build a model lunar settlement that
provides all the necessities for healthy and happy human inhabitants.
Copernicus
One of the largest and newest craters on the moon. It is a bit
south of Mare Imbrium (if you look at a full moon at midnight,
it is the bright white spot a little left of center).
History
of the Studies of the Moon
From theories based on naked eye observations to better and better
telescopes, this site tells the stories of the efforts of humans
to understand the moon.
Lunar Prospector
A history of man's observations and explorations of the moon,
and about the latest exploration with the lunar prospector.
Origin
of the Earth and Moon
Written by G. Jeffrey Taylor, Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics
and Planetology. Illustrated with computer simulations.
The
Origin of the Moon
The hypothesis: At the time Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago,
other smaller planetary bodies were also growing. One of these
hit earth late in Earth's growth process, blowing out rocky debris.
A fraction of that debris went into orbit around the Earth and
aggregated into the moon.
Mars
Mars - A to Z Home's Cool Homeschooling
Astronomy
Unit study based around all the excitement of the Mars Landers.
Jupiter
Galileo
Project: Jupiter
Jupiter reigns supreme among our nine planets, containing two-thirds
of the planetary mass of the solar system. In composition it
resembles a small star. NASA.
The Planet
Jupiter
Pictures and quizzes about the planet Jupiter.
Saturn
Cassini-Huygens:
Kids Space
Hey, kids! My name is Cassini and along with my buddy Huygens,
I'm on my way to explore the planet Saturn. Welcome to command
central for this spectacular journey.
Cassini: Unlocking Saturn's Secrets
NASA's Cassini mission lifted off on October 15, 1997, and
arrived at Saturn in June 2004, where it will explore of the planet, its giant moon Titan, and several
of its smaller moons.
Saturn
The sixth (and some would say prettiest) planet in the solar
system. The planet is mostly hydrogen and helium, but the rings
are made of little chunks of ice. The dark line in the rings
is a gap called the Cassini Division, swept clear of ice chunks
by the periodic gravitational tugging of a moon, Mimas, which
is in orbital resonance with anything in that gap.
Saturn
Model with AOL CD
Everyone has one too many AOL CD's around the house! Here's how
to turn it into a glistening model of Saturn to hang in your
room. Find out more
about Saturn.
Pluto
New Horizons
Pluto is a small, cold planet (or Kuiper Object - there's some
debate!) on the outskirts of the solar system. Pluto's diameter
(about 2,370 kilometers, or 1,470 miles) is roughly equivalent
to the distance from New York to Las Vegas, or about two-thirds
the size of Earth's moon.
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