The Solar System for Kids: Planets, Day and Night Explained (Grade 5 Science)

Hi, I'm Luna from DoodleBeez. Today we are blasting off to explore our solar system. We will meet the Sun and the eight planets, and find out why we have day and night.

At the center is the Sun. The Sun is a star, a giant ball of very hot gas. It gives us light and heat, and its gravity keeps the planets traveling around it.

There are eight planets. In order from the Sun, they are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The first four are small and rocky. The last four are giants of gas and ice.

Here is a trick to remember the order. My Very Eager Monkey Just Swung Under Nets. The first letter of each word matches a planet. M for Mercury, V for Venus, E for Earth, and so on.

Earth spins like a top. One full spin takes about twenty four hours. The side facing the Sun has daytime. The side turned away from the Sun has night. As Earth turns, day slowly becomes night.

Earth also travels around the Sun on a path called an orbit. One trip around takes about three hundred sixty five days. That is one year. So a spin makes a day, and an orbit makes a year.

Now it's your turn. When it is daytime in Canada, it is night on the other side of the world. Why is that? Pause and try. That side of Earth is turned away from the Sun.

Great job! Remember, the Sun is a star, eight planets orbit it, Earth's spin gives us day and night, and its orbit gives us a year. Practice the solar system in the Science Lab at doodlebeez.com. See you next time!