Exploring the Planets

Exploring the Planets

6th Grade · Science · 30 min· Ngss Ms-ess1-2

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Learning Objective

I can describe the major features of planets in our solar system.

  • 1

    Our solar system formed about 4.5 billion years ago from a collapsing cloud of interstellar gas and dust, resulting in a swirling disc of material called a solar nebula.

  • 2

    The planets are divided into two categories based on composition: Terrestrial planets, which are rocky, and Jovian planets, which are gas and ice giants.

  • 3

    The asteroid belt, a disc of rocky objects, lies between the Terrestrial and Jovian planets, while the icy Kuiper Belt, home to dwarf planets like Pluto, lies much further out.