The Eight Planets
Name the eight planets in order from the Sun (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune), know that Pluto is a dwarf planet, and distinguish rocky inner planets from gas giant outer planets
What a learner can do afterwards
- List all eight planets in order from the Sun
- State that Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006
- Explain that the four inner planets are small and rocky while the four outer planets are large gas giants
The lesson
Eight planets circle the Sun. Each one follows its own path, called an orbit. The planets closer to the Sun move faster and get more heat and light.
A memory trick can help: My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nachos. The first letter of each word matches the first letter of a planet, in order.
For a long time, people counted Pluto as the ninth planet. In 2006, scientists set clearer rules for what counts as a planet, and Pluto did not fit them. Now Pluto is called a dwarf planet.
The four planets closest to the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, are small and made of rock. The four planets farther out, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, are huge balls of gas called gas giants.
Eight planets orbit the Sun in order, four small rocky ones close in and four giant gas ones farther out, and Pluto is now a dwarf planet, not a full planet.
Watch it
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.