The Moon
The Moon is Earth's natural satellite, a rocky ball about a quarter of Earth's width that orbits us roughly once a month. It shines by reflecting sunlight.
Science · Ages 9–10 · 55 minutes
The solar system
Children name the eight planets in order from the Sun, describe how the Earth and other planets orbit the Sun, and explain day and night as the Earth spinning.
Success criteria
- I can name the planets in order from the Sun
- I can explain what an orbit is
- I can explain why we have day and night
Key vocabulary
- solar system
- Sun
- star
- planet
- orbit
- rotate
- axis
- Moon
- dwarf planet
- gravity
You will need
- eight large planet name cards
- a yellow ball or card for the Sun
- a globe
- a torch
- a small sticker
- string or chalk for the hall or playground
Curriculum links
- Year 5· England
Practice sheets
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Space word search
Unscramble the words: Space
Space and the Solar System
Children often know a few planet names and some impressive facts, but the shape of the system is fuzzy: what goes round what, and why the Sun seems to move across the sky. This lesson turns the class into a moving model and then uses a globe and a torch to explain day and night.
1.Starter
6 minutesWrite planet, star, moon on the board. Ask pairs: "What is the difference between these three words? Can you give an example of each?" Take answers, then reveal: the Sun is a star; Earth is a planet; the Moon is a moon that goes round the Earth. Six minutes.
2.Teach
10–15 minPut the Sun in the middle of the board and add the planets in order. Teach a sentence to remember them, or let the class invent one: My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune).
Explain the key ideas with simple script lines:
- "The Sun is a star, and it is at the centre of our solar system."
- "Each planet travels round the Sun on a path called an orbit. The Sun's gravity keeps the planets in their orbits."
- "The Earth takes about a year, about 365 days, to orbit the Sun once."
- "The Moon orbits the Earth, roughly once a month."
Then give a sense of scale: "If the Sun were the size of a football, the Earth would be about the size of a peppercorn, around 24 metres away. Neptune would be more than half a kilometre away." Ask: "Why do pictures in books show the planets close together?"
sun
planet
moon
star
rocket
