Introduction Page 3

The Sun Page 4

Mercury Page 5
Venus Page 6
Earth Page 7
Mars Page 8
Jupiter Page 9
Saturn Page 10
Uranus Page 11
Neptune Page 12
Classification of Planets Page 13
Interesting facts about our Solar System Page 14
Solar Energy Page 15
Let us revise Page 16
The Sun and the eight planets make up the Solar System. The
planets move around the Sun in a fixed path called an orbit.

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The Sun is a star.

We also call it Sol, hence the name Solar System.

The Sun is so large that the Earth could easily fit inside the Sun a million
times.

It is a giant ball of fire.

The Sun gives us heat and light.

The eight planets revolve around the Sun.

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Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun.

Mercury is grey in colour and has many craters.

It is the smallest planet in the Solar System.

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Venus is the hottest planet in the Solar System.

It has volcanoes, mountains and sand.

Venus is known as the evening and morning star because you can see
it in the early morning and late evening.

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 t

Earth is the only planet in the Solar System with oxygen and water on it.
This is why we find life on Earth. Plants, animals and people live on it.

The Earth has one Moon called Luna.

We can see the moon during the night and sometimes during the day.
When you look at the night sky, the moon looks like it is changing its
shape every day.

When the moon appears like a big round ball, we call it the Full Moon.
On a night when we don’t see the moon at all, we call it the New Moon. 7
Mars is called the Red planet because it has red soil and rocks on its
surface.

There are strong winds on this planet.

Mars has two moons- Phobos and Deimos.

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Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System.

This planet also has strong winds.

It is the planet with the most moons.

It has a storm of swirling gas on its surface that is called

‘The Great Red Spot’.
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Saturn is the second largest planet.

It is a giant gas planet.

It is known for its beautiful rings.

The rings of Saturn are made up of ice.

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Uranus is also a gas planet like Jupiter and Saturn.

It has rings like the planet Saturn, but the rings are fewer and smaller.

The rings are made up of black dust and large rocks.

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Neptune is the smallest of the four gas planets in our Solar System.

Neptune’s blue colour is the result of a gas called “methane”.

In Neptune's atmosphere, there is a large white cloud that moves or

scoots around at a great speed. The “scooting“ of this cloud around the
atmosphere has led it to be named “Scooter”.

Neptune is the last planet in the Solar System.

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 Classification
of Planets
The eight planets that revolve according to their distance from the sun are:

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

The Inner Solar System : Mercury , Venus , Earth and Mars

The Outer Solar System : Jupiter , Saturn , Uranus and Neptune

Small and Rocky Planets Giant and Gas Planets

• Mercury • Jupiter
• Venus • Saturn
• Earth • Uranus
• Mars • Neptune

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 Along with the sun and the planets in our Solar System, we also find several
objects called comets and asteroids.

 You can jump higher on the Moon because you will weigh less there. This is
because the gravity on moon is weaker than the gravity on Earth.

 The first living creature sent to space was a dog called Laika from Russia. She
travelled in a space capsule called Sputnik for seven days.

 The biggest volcano found in our Solar System is the Olympus Mons, found
on the planet Mars.

 Our country India, has sent a space craft to the moon called Chandrayaan - 1
in 2008. In the year 2013, India also launched a space craft to Mars called
Mangalyaan.

 People who are trained to go into space are called astronauts. Astronauts
train under water. Working underwater gives them an idea of how it feels to
float in space.

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The sun is a natural source of heat and light. This heat and light that we get
from the sun is called Solar Energy.

This energy can be used for:

a. Heating water
e.g. Solar water heater

b. To cook
e.g. Solar cooker

c. To produce electricity
e.g. Solar lights and fans

d. To run vehicles
e.g. Solar powered cars

e. Solar energy is also used to power small gadgets like calculators, phones
etc.
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The Sun and the eight planets make up the Solar System.
The Sun is a star.
The planet Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun.
Venus is known as the evening and morning star.

Plants, animals and people live on planet Earth.

Mars is called the Red planet.
Jupiter is the largest planet in our Solar System.
Saturn is the second largest planet. The rings of Saturn are made
up of ice.
The planet Uranus also has rings.
Neptune is the smallest of the four gas planets in our Solar System.

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