Subscribe

6th grade · Science · Unit 1 of 7

Our Solar System

Planets, moons and the asteroid belt

What your child practices

The planets in order, rocky versus giant planets, reading a table of planet data, moons, dwarf planets, comets and the asteroid belt.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 6E.3.1.1.1; 6E.1.2.1.1 · scale models of the solar system, and how the motions of Earth, the moon and sun explain patterns we see

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The planets in order from the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
  2. The asteroid belt lies between Mars and Jupiter.
  3. A moon is a natural object that orbits a planet.
  4. The farther a planet is from the Sun, the longer it takes to orbit once.

Example: Which takes longer to orbit the Sun: Mars or Saturn? Saturn is much farther from the Sun than Mars. Farther planets have longer orbits. Answer: Saturn

Our Solar System in Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 1 of 7 in 6th grade Science, before The Rock Cycle.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Put these in order, starting with the one closest to the Sun.

    • Mars
    • Earth
    • Jupiter
    • Saturn
    • Uranus

  2. Question 2

    Which planet in the table takes the longest to travel once around the Sun?

    Planet data
    PlanetDiameter (km)Distance from Sun (AU)Year (Earth years)
    Mercury4,8790.40.24
    Earth12,7561.01
    Mars6,7921.51.9
    Neptune49,52830.1165
    • Mars
    • Mercury
    • Earth
    • Neptune

  3. Question 3

    Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt. What is it classified as?

    • a dwarf planet
    • a gas giant
    • a comet
    • a star

  4. Question 4

    What is a moon?

    • a planet with rings
    • a natural object that orbits a planet
    • a star that orbits the Sun
    • a cloud of gas between planets

  5. Question 5

    Where is the asteroid belt?

    🪨
    • between Earth and Mars
    • between Mars and Jupiter
    • between Venus and Earth
    • between Saturn and Uranus

  6. Question 6

    Which planet is closest to the Sun?

    • Venus
    • Mercury
    • Mars
    • Earth

More 6th grade