Distinguish among the planets according to their known characteristics such as appearance, location, composition, and apparent motion SPI 0507.6.1

Links verified 9/19/2014

1. Examine the vast distances between planets in the solar system - This animation simulates a voyage from the sun past all nine planets. In this animation, the apparent speed of the viewer is over 300 times the speed of light.
2. Exploring Planets in the Classroom - Hands-on Activities for Science Classes. More than 25 hands-on science activities are provided in classroom-ready pages for both teachers and students for exploring Earth, the planets, geology, and space sciences.
3. Field Guide to the Universe - Solar System | Spacecraft | Astronomers |
4. Learn about the Planets - from KidsAstronomy
5. The Nine Eight Planets: A Multimedia Tour of the Solar System
6. Order it up - Measures of size and scale help us understand the magnitude of objects. Play with scales while trying to arrange planets by magnitude of mass, size, temperature, density, distance, gravity or magnetic field. Correctly order the planets and you unscramble a mystery picture! To play, click on the blue link; Play Order it Up: Solar System Edition
7. Planets of the solar system - Click on a planet to get a short bit of information about each one. Caution, relative sizes are not accurate.
8. Planetary Orbits - an excellent animation of planetary orbits.
9. Pluto demoted to dwarf planet
10. See Earth from Eight Different Perspectives - a fantastic series of animations showing our dynamic atmosphere, seasonal variation in vegetation, and six others.
11. Size Comparison - a sequence of models compares larger and larger objects - great pictures
12. Solar System - This real-time 3D simulation allows the student to inspect our solar system from any angle or vantage point as well as gain detailed information about each element.
13. Solar System Image Archive - from Windows to the Universe
14. Views of the Solar System - This site presents a vivid multimedia adventure unfolding the splendor of the Sun, planets, moons, comets, asteroids, and more. Discover the latest scientific information, or study the history of space exploration, rocketry, early astronauts, space missions, spacecraft through a vast archive of photographs, scientific facts, text, graphics and videos. Views of the Solar System offers enhanced exploration and educational enjoyment of the solar system and beyond.
15. Virtual Solar System by National Geographic - your chance to discover the wonders of our solar system in a spectacular 3-D environment. Take a fly-by tour of the sun and each planet in its orbit, observe close-up views of the planets, extraterrestrial weather patterns, and more.
16. Welcome to the Planets - This is a collection of many of the best images from NASA's planetary exploration program.

site for teachers | PowerPoint show | Acrobat document | Word document | whiteboard resource | sound | video format | interactive lesson | a quiz | lesson plan | to print