Mr. Vest 3 rd Grade Science Take an interactive journey through the Solar System Discover fun facts about the universe you live in. Increase your understanding of the universe and how everything works to together.

The Solar System Earth, an Overview The Moon The Sun The Planets

Earth: An Overview Earth is an ocean planet. Our home world's abundance of water -- and life -- makes it unique in our solar system. Other planets, plus a few moons, have ice, atmospheres, seasons and even weather, but only on Earth does the whole complicated mix come together in a way that encourages life -- and lots of it. Visit the following links to explore interactive, hands on activities to further your knowledge about earth.

Fun Facts About Earth Life is an integral part of the Earth system. Living things influence the composition of the atmosphere by "inhaling" and "exhaling" carbon dioxide and oxygen. They play a part in the water cycle by pulling water from the soil and the air, and they help put it back again by exhaling water vapor and aerating the soil so rain can soak into the ground. They regulate ocean chemistry by taking carbon out of the atmosphere. Earth would not be the planet that it is without its biosphere, the sum of its life. The Earth travels 91,402,640 miles around the sun. The Earth has a circumference of 24,873.6 miles. The Earth has a radius of 3,958.8 miles. It takes the earth Earth days to orbit the sun. The Earth’s day is approximately hours.

The Moon In 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. His famous words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” were heard by over 600 million television viewers. <iframe width="420" height="315" src=" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

Mercury The Inner Most Planet Mercury, the innermost planet, only takes 88 earth to complete its journey around the sun. It is heavily cratered, like the moon, with plenty of soft flowing plains.

Venus Earth’s Sister Planet Venus is the second planet from the sun and it takes about 224 days for it to orbit the Sun. Venus is referred as Earth’s sister planet because of similar size and dimensions.

Mars The Fourth Planet From the Sun Mars was one of the first bodies to be viewed through a telescope. Mars is often referred to as “The Red Planet” Early astronomers thought they detected life on the surface and began calling them “Martians.” Though no life exists on Mars, the thought has used to create any cartoons and movies.

Jupiter The Fifth Planet From the Sun Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. It is the same size as about 1000 earths put together.

Saturn The Ringed Planet Saturn in the second largest planet in the Solar System and is the sixth planet from the Sun. Saturn’s rings are made up of tiny ice particles. Saturn is so light, if there was bath tub big enough to hold it, it would float.

Uranus The Seventh Planet From the Sun Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and is the third largest in the Solar System. Uranus gets its blue color from tiny frozen ammonia crystals near it’s surface.

Neptune The Farthest Planet From the Sun Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the sun. Neptune is so far away that it can’t be seen with a telescope. Neptune is covered by bright, icy blue methane clouds giving it that beautiful color.

References Core Standard: Third Grade science, learning about the Solar System. A fun guide through the planets ayer_embedded ayer_embedded