Our solar system
I can describe our solar system, including ideas about the locations, movements, sizes and distances of the different objects within our solar system.
Our solar system
I can describe our solar system, including ideas about the locations, movements, sizes and distances of the different objects within our solar system.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- A star is an extremely large sphere of hot gas that gives out light.
- A planet is a very large sphere of rock or gas that orbits a star.
- Our solar system includes the Sun (a star) and all the objects that orbit the Sun.
- Orbiting the Sun are: 8 planets (many of which have moons), dwarf planets and smaller objects such as asteroids.
- Distances between objects in our solar system are very, very large compared to the sizes of the objects.
Keywords
Star - A star is an extremely large sphere of hot gas that emits light.
Planet - A planet is a very large sphere of rock or gas that orbits a star.
Dwarf planet - A dwarf planet is a large, round object that orbits a star but is not big enough to clear its orbital path of other debris.
Asteroid - An asteroid is a small, rocky object that orbits the Sun.
Solar system - Our solar system includes the Sun and all the objects in orbit around the Sun.
Common misconception
Stars and the planets in our solar system are intermingled, with stars between the planets.
Make it clear with diagrams, scaled examples and/or videos (freely available online) that 'zoom out' from Earth, that the second nearest star to Earth is 10 000 times further away from the Sun than Neptune, the most distant planet.
Equipment
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
Exit quiz
6 Questions
