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Jupiter is the biggest and is truly giant. It is large enough for 11 Earths to fit across its face and 1,300 to fit inside it. There are four giant planets in our Solar System. The next biggest is Saturn, followed by Uranus, and Neptune. They are also known as ''gas giants'' because of their colorful, ice-cold gas atmosphere. Jupiter is shrinking. When it was young it was five times its present size. It is cooling and getting smaller by about 2cm (0.8 in) a year.ha

About one-tenth of Earth's land surface is covered in ice. Built up over thousands of years, most ice occurs in thick ice sheets that cap the land at the North and South Poles. Ice also tops the peaks of high mountains, and rivers of ice called glaciers gouge deep valleys in polar and mountain regions.

A volcano erupts when hot molten rock from deep inside the Earth bursts out of the ground. Rivers of liquid rock, called lava, flow down the side of the volcano burning trees, houses, and anything else in their paths. An exploding volcano may also fling out ash, mud, and poisonous gases. Volcanoes are not just destructive, however, and often create new mountains and islands.

The desire of European merchants to control the trade in luxury goods from Asia- silk, cotton, and spices- combined with the technology advances in shipbuilding and navigation led to a wave of long-distance voyages of exploration that redrew the map of the globe between the 15th and 18th centuries.

The surface of the Earth is like a massive jigsaw puzzle made up of huge rocky pieces called tectonic plates. The pieces of this puzzle are constantly moving about very slowly, but with immense force. If they slide past or crash into each other the Earth shakes and quakes.

Yes, the continents and oceans are constantly moving on the Earth's crust. More than 200 million years ago,the continents were joined in one huge land mass, but over millions of years this drifted and separated into the seven main continents we know today: Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, Antarctica, North America, and South America. 200 millions years ago Many of the continents are locked together in a landmass named Pangaea. 100 millions years ago Divergent plates begin to open up the Atlantic Ocean. South America drifts west, Antarctica heads for the South Pole, and India creeps towards Asia Today India is in place after colliding with the Eurasian mainland. Greenland separates from North America, which has a land bridge with South America, Australia drifts in the Pacific Ocean