| Solar System
Universes, galaxies, and solar systems are some of the major components
of outer space. If we break it down even further, we can talk about stars,
planets, asteroids, meteoroids, comets, and a lot of dust. All of these
parts are held together by gravity. Our little part of outer space is
called a solar system because "sol" is the Latin word for sun,
and the sun is the main component of the system.
Sample some of the following activities to learn more about our solar
system.
Places To Go | People
To See | Things To Do | Teacher
Resources | Bibliography
Places To Go
The following are places to go (some real and some virtual) to find out
about the solar system.
 Visit Hovenweep National
Monument near Blanding, Utah. The ancient Native American inhabitants
left well preserved stone towers and other pueblo style buildings. It
is thought that some of the towers may have been used as atronomical observatories
with strategic openings in the walls to determine solstices, equinoxes,
and moon cycles. Hovenweep is one of Utah's ancient treasures.
For solar system excitement, plan an outing to the Clark
Planetarium in Salt Lake City.
The
Nine Planets: A Multimedia Tour of the Solar System is a virtual
tour of our small part of the Milky Way.
 Visit
your school or public library and check out the science fiction books. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle is a classic. Orson Scott
Card's science fiction books are popular with high school students. Stinker
From Space by Pamela Service is about an alien who is being chased
by enemy aliens and crashes his spacecraft on earth and transforms his
body into the body of a skunk to disguise himself and then can't get back
into his real body and he communicates telepathically to two children
who help him get back to his own planet. Confused? Read the book. Popular
author, Gary Paulsen, has a new book, The Transall Saga. Maybe
you've read his adventure/survival book, Hatchet and its sequel Brian's Winter. The Transall Saga has been described
as Hatchet on Mars.
National
Geographic: Virtual Solar System
Discover the wonders of our solar system in a spectacular 3-D environment.
Take a flyby tour of the sun and each planet in its orbit, observe planets
and extraterrestrial weather patterns up close, and more.
BBC: Virtual
Solar System
This site includes fun facts about the planets and a quiz to test your
knowledge.
 Solar
System Exploration
This NASA site provides information on the planets in our solar system,
current and past space missions, reasons for exploring space, and much
more.
A Virtual
Journey into the Universe
This site provides an in-depth view of the entire universe. It includes
information about planets and their moons as well as theories and laws
that govern the universe. 
People To See
NASA's
Ask the Space Scientist - You can ask the space scientist new questions
or read through past questions and answers.
 NASA's
Ask the Expert - You choose if you want the crew of one of the missions
to answer your question or the staff of the Mission Control Center. Students,
in the field to submit a question, remember to use your FIRST name only!
You can also read answers to previously asked questions.
Ask an Astronomer - From Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.. Ask new questions or read
through old ones.
Scientific
American: Ask the Astronomy Expert
Find answers to even more astronomical questions here.
Man
in the Moon
Remember this old nursery
rhyme?
The Man in the Moon came tumbling down,
And asked the way to Norwich;
He went by the south, and burnt his mouth
With eating cold pease porridge.
For centuries, humankind has been imagining the face of a man in the
moon. Check out these images and see if you can see the faces.
Things To Do
Amazing
Space
Learn about the objects that make up the solar system by collecting Solar
System Trading Cards. From this site, be sure and also check out the Galaxy
Games.
 The
Constellations and their Stars
On a dark, cloudless night, lay outside on a blanket and see how many
constellations you can find. For even better viewing, go out into the
mountains or countryside away from the city lights. Using this website
you can find out which constellations can be seen best during particular
months. Then, using their interactive star charts, you can see a virtual
representation of the constellations. (Your computer's browser will have
to be java-enabled for these charts to function properly.) Did you know
that there is a constellation named Pavo that looks like a whale and can
best be viewed in September? While you're figuring out constellations,
be on the look out for "falling stars" which are really meteors. Known
meteor showers for the fall of 1999 are the Giacobinids on Oct 8th, the
Leonids on November 17th, and the Geminids on December 14th.
 Phases
of the Moon
Go out at night and impress your family and friends by declaring to them
that the moon is a waxing gibbous or a waning crescent.
Let's
Cook Up A Comet
Make a comet. You'll need dry ice, garbage bags, sand or dirt, a little
ammonia, and some corn syrup.
Solar
Eclipse
Find out what conditions produce a solar eclipse. When will the next one
occur?
 How
To Become an Astronaut
It's never too early to be thinking about becoming an astronaut or mission
specialist.
Build
a Solar System
You fill in the diameter of the sun that you want your model to be scaled
by, and the solar system calculator gives you the numbers for your other
celestial bodies.
 The
Sun
Amaze your friends by explaining to them what the sun is made of, why
it is hot, and if it will ever burn up.
World
Almanac for Kids: The Solar System
Get detailed facts and figures about the solar system.
Astronomy
for Kids
Discover information about the special qualities of each planet in the
solar system.
Brain
Pop: The Solar System
Learn about the solar system on this fun site by watching a movie, taking
a quiz, trying out an experiment, and more!
Science
Monster: Our Solar System
Learn about the solar system or take a tour of Mars and the stars. Also
includes a virtual globe and information on gravity and inertia.
Teacher Resources
Hotlists from UEN provide internet sites to
visit to find out more about specific topics--in this case, the solar
system!
Online activities are a listing of internet
sites with fun, interesting, and educational tasks attached to each one.
(You can learn how to use this WWW
Activities tool created by UEN for Utah educators).
Lesson Plans/WebQuests
Experiments
Bibliography
- Angliss, Sarah. Cosmic Journeys : A Beginner's Guide to Space and
Time Travel. Brookfield, Conn. : Copper Beech Books, 1998.
- Becklake, Sue. World Book Encyclopedia Presents Space. Chicago, Ill.
: World Book in Association with Two-Can, 1997.
- Dyer, Alan. Space. Pleasantville, N.Y. : Reader's Digest Children's
Books, c1999.
- Redfern, Martin. The Kingfisher Young People's Book of Space. New
York : Kingfisher, 1998.
- Scheller, William. Spaced out! : An Extreme Reader - From Warps and
Wormholes to Killer Asteroids. New York : Planet Dexter, 1998.
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