Starter quiz
- How many planets orbit the Sun?
- none
- one
- eight ✓
- nine
- thirteen
-
- What is the Asteroid Belt?
- the name of the rings around Saturn
- a group of moons that orbit Jupiter
- a large number of rocks that orbit the Sun, between Mars and Jupiter ✓
- a large number of rocks that orbit the Sun beyond Pluto
-
- Put these planets in order of their distance from the Sun, starting with the planet closest to it.
- 1⇔Mercury
- 2⇔Venus
- 3⇔Earth
- 4⇔Mars
- 5⇔Jupiter
- 6⇔Saturn
- 7⇔Uranus
- How long does it take Earth to orbit the Sun?
- one day
- 28 days
- one month
- one year ✓
-
- How long does it take the Moon to orbit Earth?
- about one day
- about one week
- about one month ✓
- about one year
-
- How do the planets orbit the sun?
between the stars
in a line
at different distances ✓
in a ring
Exit quiz
- Which of these are dwarf planets?
- Makemake ✓
- Mars
- Mercury
- Neptune
- Pluto ✓
-
- Which of these are regions in the Solar System that contain millions of rocks of all different sizes.
- the Asteroid Belt ✓
- the Kuiper Belt ✓
- Neptune's Belt
- the Oort Cloud ✓
- the Pluto Cloud
-
- Which of these planets has a moon called 'the Moon'?
- no planets
- just Earth ✓
- only Earth and Mars
- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
- Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
-
- Why are moons that are bigger than the planet Mercury called moons rather than planets?
- they are not part of the Solar System
- they do not travel around the Sun
- they orbit a planet ✓
- they orbit a star
-
- What best describes where gravitational force acts?
- near to the surface of a planet
- near to the surface of a planet with an atmosphere
- within the Solar System
- everywhere ✓
-
- In which direction does the gravitational force of the Sun act on the planet Mars to make it orbit the Sun?
- in a straight line in the direction in which Mars is moving
- in a circle in the direction in which Mars is moving
- in a straight line towards the centre of the Sun ✓
- in a straight line away from the centre of the Sun
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Worksheet
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Presentation
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Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- The solar system includes the Sun, eight planets, dwarf planets and bands of smaller rocks.
- The planets, dwarf planets and bands of smaller rocks all move the same way around the Sun as they orbit it.
- Most planets in the solar system are orbited by one or more moons.
- Each moon orbits a planet because of the gravitational attraction between it and the planet.
- Each planet in the solar system orbits the Sun because of the gravitational attraction between it and the Sun.
Common misconception
Gravity only acts close to the surface of a planet.
Provide examples of motions caused by gravitational forces acting over huge distances of space, such as the orbits of planets.
Keywords
Solar system - the Sun and the collection of objects in orbit around it
Planet - a very large, spherical object in orbit around a star that has cleared the path of its orbit of other objects
Dwarf planet - a large object in orbit around a star that has not cleared the path of its orbit of other objects
Moon - a natural object in orbit around a planet
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