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Solar System Motion Research

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Solar System Motion Research

You are preparing a short briefing for a group planning a journey through the Solar System. Use the information and visual on this sheet to investigate how planets move. Distances are average distances from the Sun; orbital periods are rounded.

Planet data cards

Use these rounded values to answer the investigation questions. A planet's rotation period is the time it takes to spin once. Its orbital period is the time it takes to travel once around the Sun.

Planet

Average distance from Sun (million km)

Rotation period

Orbital period

Earth

150

24 hours

365 days

Mars

228

24.6 hours

687 days

Jupiter

778

9.9 hours

11.9 Earth years

Neptune

4,495

16.1 hours

165 Earth years

Investigate the motion

Show how you use the model and data to build your briefing.

1.Match each term to its meaning: rotation; revolution; orbit; elliptical.

Rotation
Revolution
Orbit
Elliptical

The path followed by an object travelling around another object
Spinning on an axis
One complete journey around another object
Oval-shaped

2.Which statement best describes the planets' paths around the Sun?

They travel in perfectly square paths.
They travel in elliptical orbits, which are slightly oval-shaped.
They stay still while the Sun moves around them.
They travel in straight lines away from the Sun.

3.Earth takes about 24 hours to rotate once. What familiar measure of time does this create?

4.Use the data cards to identify the planet that rotates fastest. Explain how you know.

5.Which planet in the data cards has the longest orbital period? What does that period tell you?

6.True or false? Mars takes less time than Earth to complete one orbit around the Sun. Use the data to support your answer.

TrueFalse

7.Earth is about 150 million km from the Sun and Mars is about 228 million km away. About how much farther from the Sun is Mars than Earth?

8.In your own words, explain the difference between rotation and revolution. Give one example of each from the data cards.

9.A student says, “Neptune's year is longer than Earth's because Neptune takes longer to rotate.” Is this explanation supported by the data? Explain your reasoning.

10.Write a two-sentence briefing comparing the motion of any two planets in the data cards. Include at least one rotation period and one orbital period.