8561RB AC Science Year 6 revised edition LR watermark

Earth and space sciences
Lesson 1
What is orbiting around in the solar system?
Content focus:
Science inquiry:
The relative distance of the planets from the Sun and their movement around the Sun
Processing, modelling and analysing | Evaluating
Background information
• There are eight planets in the solar system, and there are
many representations of the size and location of these planets.
Many of these misrepresent the relative size of the planets and
the distance between them. It is common to see them arranged
in a horizontal line, but this is not accurate and the chances of
the planets ever actually lining up is very improbable.
• The pocket solar system is intended to address the
misrepresentation of the distance between planets. This will
also make it clearer that each planet orbits the Sun and, the
further away from the Sun they are, the longer their orbit.
Preparation
• Students will require the following equipment for the activity
on page 31: 1m strips of paper; coloured pencils or markers;
ruler; scissors; tape or glue.
• Locate various mnemonics that are used to help remember the
order of the planets from the Sun; for example, My (Mercury)
Very (Venus) Easy (Earth) Method (Mars) Just (Jupiter) Speeds
(Saturn) Up (Uranus) Nothing (Neptune).
The lesson
• Pages 29 and 30 are to be used together.
• This lesson could be accompanied by various videos explaining
the size and distance of the solar system planets, especially
after reading through the text. The NASA website can also be
used to view models of each planet.
• Discuss ways to remember the planets and their order from
the Sun by writing a class mnemonic; for example, My Very
Excited Monster Just Surprised Us Now.
• Show students a completed pocket solar system and remind
them that this is demonstrating the distances between the
planets in a simplistic way, and that the planets are not usually
lined up in orbit like this. It represents the planets as they
would be found somewhere along the ellipse at the distance
shown on the pocket solar system.
Do any of your students learn better through
kinaesthetic activities?
Consider having students role-play the orbiting planets, with
a student as the central Sun, and others moving around at
different speeds.
Answers
Page 30
1. Teacher check: Table should include columns for: position in
the order of planets from the Sun; diameter; time taken to orbit
the Sun; number of moons.
2. (a) Mercury (b) Neptune (c) Neptune (d) Venus
3. (a) Planets with rocky surfaces: Mercury, Mars, Venus, Earth.
(b) Planets that are enormous and are mostly made of gases:
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
4. The outer planets have a stronger gravitational pull and a
larger magnetic field, which attracts asteroids and pulls them
into the planet’s orbit.
© R.I.C. Publications
Low resolution display copy
Measure in a minute
Ask students to share three things they learnt today about the
solar system, two things they found interesting, and one thing
they want to find out more about.
28 Australian Curriculum Science (Year 6) 978-1-923005-13-6 R.I.C. Publications ® ricpublications.com.au