ORIGIN AND COMPOSITION OF THE

SOLAR SYSTEM
•The solar system is believed to have been formed about
4.7 billion years ago from a rotating cloud of gas and
dust, called nebula. As this cloud rotated faster and
faster, it formed into a flattened disk and contracted.
The shrinking continued until the density became large
enough to start a nuclear fusion. This was the birth of
the sun. around the young sun, at different distances,
gravity caused matter to collapse into spheres which
became larger and larger as they gathered more and
more cosmic dust. When the spheres cooled, they
became the planets. Matter that was not pulled into the
planets become their satellites.
Today, the solar system as we know it is an orderly
arrangement of eight planets (formerly nine
 The solar system is believed to have been formed
about 4.7 billion years ago from a rotating cloud of gas
and dust, called nebula. As this cloud rotated faster and
faster, it formed into a flattened disk and contracted. The
shrinking continued until the density became large
enough to start a nuclear fusion. This was the birth of the
sun. around the young sun, at different distances, gravity
caused matter to collapse into spheres which became
larger and larger as they gathered more and more cosmic
dust. When the spheres cooled, they became the planets.
Matter that was not pulled into the planets become their
satellites.
Today, the solar system as we know it is an orderly
arrangement of eight planets (formerly nine
Today, the solar system as we know it is an orderly
arrangement of eight planets (formerly nine but Pluto
was downgraded to a “dwarf planet”) and their satellites,
thousands of asteroids, meteors, meteorites, and
undetermined number of Trans-Neptunian Objects.
• The sun, which is a star that is far more massive than any
of the planets, is the center of the solar system.
• The eight planets, which are drawn to the sun by gravity,
are Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn,
Uranus, and Venus (arranged in alphabetical order). The
term planet is derived from the Greek word meaning
wanderer. This is because planets appear to change their
position in the sky from time to time, unlike the stars
which seem to occupy a fixed position with reference to
 ACTIVITY NO. 1
Problem:

What is the center of the solar system?

What are the eight planets of the solar system?

Materials:
drawing
Procedure:
The illustration on the previous page represents the sun
and its eight planets. Each planet is labeled with a
letter. Identify and name the planet corresponding to
each letter.
Observations and Inferences.
1. What are the eight planets of the solar system?
a. Mercury e. Jupiter
b. Venus f. Saturn
c. Earth g. Uranus
d. Mars h. Neptune
2. How are the above planets arranged?
They are arranged according to their distances from the sun…
from the closest to the farthest.
3. Which are the inner planets? Why are they so called?
The inner planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. They are
so called because they are group closer to the sun.
4. Which are the outer planets? Why are they so called?
The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. They
are the group farther from the sun.
5. How are inner planets different from the outer
planets?
The outer planets have rings, the inner
planets have none.
6. Which are the two largest planets?
Jupiter and Saturn.
7. Which is the smallest planet?
Mercury.
 H
G

D
F
A B

C
E
Generalization:
A conductor is a material that offers very little
resistance to electricity. Metals fit into this
classification. All metals are conductors, although
some are better conductors than other. An insulator
is a material that offers very high resistance to
electricity. Most nonmetals fit into this
classification.
Solar System
Nebula
Archimedes