Rocky Planets and Gas Giants

Eight planets travel around the Sun. The four closest ones are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. They are made of rock, so we call them rocky planets.

The four planets farther away are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. They are huge balls of gas and ice. Jupiter is the biggest planet of all.

Saturn has beautiful rings made of ice and rock. Some pieces are as small as sand, and some are as big as a house.

Try this: Use fruits to build a model. A pea can be Earth and a big watermelon can be Jupiter!