Fourth Grade
Worksheets
The Sun
The Sun - we couldn't live without it. All life on Earth depends on the energy that comes from the Sun. It gives us light and heat. Plants use its energy to make food for themselves and for other animals. The Sun controls our climate and weather. How much do you know about that giant ball of energy that you see in the sky?
The Sun is really a star. It is the closest one to Earth. It is about 93 million miles away. The Sun is the center of our solar system. All the planets revolve around it. The Sun makes up almost 99 percent of the mass of our solar system. It is so large that about a million Earths would fit inside it. The Sun has a mass of almost 333,000 times the Earth's. Although it has a diameter of about 1.3 million kilometers, the Sun is only a medium sized star. It is known as a yellow dwarf. The Sun is part of the Milky Way Galaxy. Scientists believe it is just a bit older than Earth, about 4.6 billion years.
The Sun is made up of several layers. It has a core. Next is the radiation zone. Above that is the convection zone. The "surface" of the Sun is called the photosphere. Above the surface are two layers of gas. They are called the chromosphere and the corona.
