A Look Into Space

Did you know that we used to think that there were nine planets that made up the solar system? Up until 2006, Pluto was considered to be the ninth planet and was located furthest away from the sun in our solar system. However, since 2006 Pluto has been considered to be a “dwarf planet” because it is too small to be considered a planet. Now that Pluto is not considered a planet, only eight planets are left to make up our solar system. The order of the planets from the sun is as follows: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. 

Mercury is the planet closest to the sun; however, can you believe that Mercury is not the planet with the hottest temperatures in our solar system? Well, believe it because Venus is the planet with the highest temperatures! The only award that sets Mercury apart from any other planet in the solar system is that it is the smallest planet. 

Earth is the planet where you and I live. Earth is the only planet currently known to be the home of living things. However, Mars does show some signs that there may be water on the planet, which is necessary for living things to grow and live on Mars. Maybe one day we will learn that aliens really do live on Mars!

Jupiter is the largest planet is the solar system, but it has the shortest days out of all of the planets because it turns so quickly. A day on Earth is 24 hours long, but a day on Jupiter is less than 10 hours long and a day on Saturn is just over 10 hours long. If we lived on Jupiter or Saturn, then we would spend most of the day in school! 

Uranus is not the furthest planet from the sun, but it is the coldest. Even though Uranus is the coldest planet, Neptune might have the worst weather. One storm on Neptune lasted for about 5 years! Could you imagine a storm lasting for 5 years on Earth? 

One fun thing about science is that we are always learning something new because science can change. We could learn more unknown, fun facts about the solar system in the future! 

How was this passage organized? 

Adapted from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll (1865)

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice 'without pictures or conversation?'

So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

There was nothing so very remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, 'Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!' (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.

In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.

The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well.

What was Alice doing right before she saw the rabbit?