The Universe contains all of space and everything within it. The Universe is made of trillions of stars that exist in billions of galaxies. The Universe is also still growing!
We can think of the Universe as a large beach. Just as every grain of sand makes up the beach, every part of space (stars, galaxies,and solar systems) makes up the Universe.
Check out more about the Universe here:
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/universe.htm
For our Unit, we are going to focus on the solar system. Our solar system is a very small part of the Universe that is made up of our Sun, Earth, and our seven neighboring planets. Our solar system is in the galaxy called the Milky Way.
Check out more about galaxies here:
http://scienceforkids.kidipede.com/physics/space/galaxy.htm
Check out more about galaxies here:
http://scienceforkids.kidipede.com/physics/space/galaxy.htm
In the picture above, you can see that our solar system is a very small part of the the Milky Way galaxy. Our Sun is only one star of billions in the Milky way Galaxy!
Feel small yet? Our galaxy, the Milky Way Galaxy, is only one of billions of galaxies that make up the Universe! The photo below was taken and zoomed with a high power telescope to look deep into space. As you can see, there are several distant galaxies that can be seen in the photo.
In order from smallest to biggest are: our solar system, the Milky Way Galaxy, and then the Universe. Remember, there are trillions of stars, just like our Sun, in billions of galaxies, like the Milky Way, in the Universe.
If we used the comparison of the beach when talking about the size of our solar system, our solar system would be one grain of sand compared to the whole beach that is the Universe!
If we used the comparison of the beach when talking about the size of our solar system, our solar system would be one grain of sand compared to the whole beach that is the Universe!
Take Look at This Video!
This video slowly moves away from our solar system showing the size of our Universe.
Activity:
In a paragraph, tell why the size of our Universe can be compared to that of an entire beach while our solar system would only be the size of a grain of sand?