Exploring Space: Lesson Four

Lesson Four

Because he was a little dippier.

Hi! So, if you climbed into a rocket, where would you go first? Check out the Gravity Launch Game, to see if you even have the right trajectory! Once you are ready, take a Solar System Tour!

There are currently 8 planets in our solar system:

Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune

This section of our course focuses on the inner planets which are the planets closest to the sun. Ever wonder how big the planets are compared to Earth? Check out their sizes here.

Please visit the McDonald Observatory at the University of Texas and/or the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum to find out more about each of the inner planets:

Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars

Read the webpage for each of the four inner planets. As you read, take notes on each planet's size, surface temperature, and characteristics. You will need this information for the quiz at the end of this course section.

Once you have read about each of the inner planets, watch the video for each planet included in this section of the course. If you learn anything new while you are watching, pause the video and add it to your notes! Due to some embedding restrictions, for some of the following videos, you may need to click on "Play it on YouTube" for the video to work.

Last modified: Tuesday, 10 May 2011, 1:07 PM

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