THE SOLAR SYSTEM:
SATURN

PLANET SATURN LESSON

Directions:

Print the Saturn reading comprehension passage and questions (see below).

Students should read the passage silently, then answer the questions.  Teachers may also use the text as part of a classroom lesson plan.

Lesson Excerpt

After Jupiter, there is a big gap in the solar system.  Saturn is almost twice as far from the sun as Jupiter is.  Saturn, the sixth planet, is 887 million miles from the sun.  Saturn was named for the Roman God of time and agriculture.  Saturday (Saturn's Day) was named for it, too.

     Saturn, like the other outer planets, is a giant ball of gas with a rocky center that has no solid surface.  It is the second largest planet, only Jupiter is larger.  Saturn is about ten times the diameter of Earth.  Its diameter is about 75,000 miles or 120,600 km.  Saturn has 34 moons.  The moons are very different in size, surface features, and colors.

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