Facts about planet earth

Planet Earth is the 3rd planet closest to the

sun. It is the only planet that has an

atmosphere containing 21 percent oxygen.

Earth is the only planet that has water and

life. The Earth is very fragile.It's surface is

split into plates (tectonic plates) which float on a rocky mantle-the layer between the surface of the Earth,it's crust,and it's hot liquid core.The inside of the Earth is active and Earthquakes,volcanoes and mountain building takes place along the boundaries of the tectonic plate.When viewed from outer space much of the Earth's surface cannot be seen by because of clouds of water vapour. The water vapour makes the Earth,when seen from outside,into a brilliant shining orb, as you can see in figure.The Earth takes

365 1/4 days to complete it's orbit round the sun.The Earth's year is therefore 365 days long but on the 1/4 days are added up and every 4th year has one extra day, on the 29th of February.This 4th year is called a leap year (366 days) and is always a year which can be divided exactly by 4-2000,2004,2008,2012,2016.As the earth orbits the sun it turns on its axis,rotating right round it in 24 hours.The side of the Earth that faces the sun has daytime and the side of the Earth that is turned away from the sun has night time.When it s daytime in Britain,it is night time in the opposite side of Earth in New Zealand. Source:Earth facts - planet Earth - Earth for kids - planets for kids