Watch: The solar system
This song helps us to remember the planets in our solar system.
Narrator: Serious scientists, like myself, believe our solar system was formed by the collapse of a giant cloud of gas and rock and is held together by the gravitational pull of the Sun.
8 planets orbit the Sun.
The closest are the four rocky planets, the remaining gas planets inhabit deeper space.
The solar system is also home to many other cosmic bodies including asteroids, moons and dwarf planets such as Pluto.
What's this? Oh noooo…
Stella: You should know where all the planets are, they orbit the Sun, which is actually a star.
Mercury and Venus, are first in line,
Earth used to have dinosaurs, but now it's our time!
Mars, is next, and rocky and red,
Jupiter made of gas, not somewhere you can tread.
Saturn's got rings, and is gas too,
Uranus then Neptune are cold and blue.
You should know where all the planets are,
They orbit the Sun, which is actually a star.
You should know where all the planets are,
They orbit the Sun, which is actually a star!
Solar system facts
Solar System facts
- The Sun is a star.
- The Earth is one of eight planets that An orbit is the path of an object around a particular point in space. around the Sun.
- The planets are called Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
- The solar system is also home to lots of asteroids, moons, and dwarf planets such as Pluto.
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus was an early Someone who ask questions about the universe and studies things like the stars and planets that we can see in the night sky. , scientist and priest in Poland, who thought the Sun was at the centre of the solar system.
This theory was known as the heliocentric model. It was controversial as accepted wisdom at the time (supported by the church) was that Earth was at the centre of the universe.
Activity 1: Order the planets
Activity 2: Solar system quiz
Activity 3: Create a solar system
Create your own masterpiece of the solar system. You could paint it, use different sized objects or draw it. Don't forget to label it and add any facts that you know!
Can you create a A pattern of letters, words, ideas or associations which help with memorising something. to help you the order of the planets?Here's an example:
My (Mercury) Very (Venus) Easy (Earth) Method (Mars) Just (Jupiter) Speeds (Saturn) Up (Uranus) Nothing (Neptune)
Bitesize Primary games. game
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More on Earth and space
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