Vocabulary - The Planets
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Vocabulary
STUDENT RESOURCE 1.1
INFORMATION SHEET
asteroids thousands of rocky objects that
planet a large object in space that
orbit the Sun
revolves around a nearby star
Most asteroids orbit in a belt between
There are nine planets in our solar
the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. More
system. In order from the Sun, they are
than 90,000 asteroids have been
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
identifi ed. Only about 200 are more
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
than 100 kilometers in diameter.
scale model a model that correctly shows
comet object made of frozen gases, dust,
relationships between size and distance,
and rock, that orbits the Sun
but is smaller or larger than the objects
Comets have long, bright tails when
it represents
they pass near the Sun. The tails always
Scale models are often used in science
point away from the Sun, no matter
to study very large or very small objects.
what direction the comet is moving.
solar system the Sun and the objects
meteor rock that enters and burns up in
that orbit it, including the nine planets
Earth’s atmosphere
The solar system formed some 4.6
Meteors are often called shooting
billion years ago when a cloud of
stars because they fl ash across the night
gas and dust contracted into a large,
sky in a bright streak.
spinning disk. The Sun formed in the
hot, dense center of the disk. The rest
meteorite rock that strikes the surface of
of the gas and dust eventually formed
a planet or moon
planets.
Meteorites can cause impact craters
where they hit. The Barringer Crater in
Arizona was formed by a meteorite. It
is about 1.2 kilometers in diameter and
200 meters deep.
EXPLORING SPACE • SECTION 1 THE PLANETS •
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