Our+Solar+System

﻿ __**Our Solar System!**__ **__ Basics __** ** Earth ** ** The Sun ** **ICT Group Assignment**
 * 26/9/11**
 * Charlotte Crossley**
 * Phil Gee**
 * Sarah Massey**
 * Natasha Wood**

Our solar system is comprised of one star (the Sun) and nine planets. The planets orbit the Sun, generally in the same plane (Pluto deviates slightly).  Image from: @http://astrobioloblog.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/what-is-a-solar-system/ The list of planets, beginning with the nearest to the Sun is as follows: Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto This list can be remembered using the mnemonic: The orbit of a planet around the Sun determines one year on that planet, for us this is 365.24 days. Depending on the speed of the orbit and the distance from the Sun, the 'year' on each planet varies greatly. For instance, Mercury has a year of eighty-eight Earth-days and Pluto has a year of 248 Earth-years.
 * m**y **v**ery **e**asy **m**ethod **j**ust **s**ums **u**p **n**ine **p**lanets


 * Earth**

Earth is the planet we live on, third from the Sun and the only planet known to support life such as animals, plants and trees. Earth orbits the sun, once every 365 and a quarter days, otherwise know as a year. Whilst doing this the Earth also spins on its own axis, once every 24 hours which causes only half of the Earth to be facing the Sun at one time. This is the simple reason why there is day and night on Earth. The half of Earth where it is day is the side that is receiving light from the Sun. The half of Earth where it is night is the side that isn't receiving light from the Sun. See diagram below:

**The Sun** The Sun is a star and gives out heat and light. The Sun looks as though it moves through the sky during the day time; however this is a common misconception amongst children. The Sun does not move - it is infact the Earth rotating which causes the sun to look as though it is moving across the sky. The Sun rises in the east every morning and sets in the west every evening. It is highest in the sky as midday (in the summer it is at its highest because we are closer to the sun). The Sun casts (makes) shadows. The shadows are biggest at the beginning and the end of the day when the Sun is closest to the Earth. Shadows are shortest at midday when the sun is highest in the sky (Furthest away from the Earth). The link below is a good website which explains this visually: @http://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/interactives/science/earthandbeyond/shadows.asp **The Moon** The Earth has one moon, which is a natural satellite named **Luna** that lies approximately 239,000 miles away. Other planets in our solar system also have moons like Jupiter which has more than 16 Moons! The Earth’s Moon orbits the Earth in an anticlockwise direction approximately every 28 days.Whilst orbiting the Earth the Moon spins on its own axis once, meaning that only one side of the Moon is ever visible to us from Earth. During the Moon's orbit around Earth it passes through a number of different phases. On Earth it looks as though the Moon to is changing shape. However this affect is a result of the different angles we view the Moon on the different nights throughout its orbit. We only see the part of the moon that is lit up by the sun. There are 8 main pahses of the moon which can be seen in the picture below. However, teaching this isn't required within the KS2 National Curriculum - it might curb some misconception children may have. For more information follow the link below. Image from @http://www.bobthealien.co.uk/moonphase.htm ﻿  media type="youtube" key="RMINSD7MmT4" height="315" width="420"

Watch the first landing on the Moon is 1969 on the video above.

**-->Key stage 2 Sc4 (National curriculum reference) :** 4) The Earth and beyond Pupils should be taught: The Sun, Earth and Moon 1. That the Sun, Earth and Moon are approximately spherical Periodic changes 2. How the position of the Sun appears to change during the day, and how shadows change as this happens 3. How day and night are related to the spin of the Earth on its own axis 4. That the Earth orbits the Sun once each year, and that the Moon takes approximately 28 days to orbit the Earth.  **__ Cross-Curricular Links __**-  - - The Solar System topic would provide a great opportunity for cross-curricular learning. Some ideas include learning about gravity, performing a piece of drama and even art.  **__Science – Gravity__** - Gravity can be a really hard concept for children to grasp. Firstly, children find abstract ideas that they cannot see or touch hard to understand. Gravity could be explored during science lessons with simple experiments such as dropping objects from a height and talking about why they fall down to the ground. You could bring a telescope into the classroom to show the children and explain how it is used to view the stars and planets. You could look at NASA and their work to put the topic of space into a real life context. - **__Drama__** Showing the children videos of astronauts in space and then of the moon landing could be a good basis for understanding how gravity affects objects in different environments (in space/on the Moon/on Earth). You could get the children to mimic the slow movements which happen in lower gravity environments. Another idea might be to use a drama session, and the advantage of being in the school hall perhaps, to demonstrate the distance of the planets in relation with one another. This could also carry over into a PE session where the children hold different sized balls (from a ping-pong balls and tennis/hockey balls to basket balls and jog/walk/run around “the sun” in the centre to demonstrate the rate at which the planets complete a single orbit. - Art is a great way to explore different planets using collages, painting and even creating 3D models with papier mache which you could then use to demonstrate the movements of the planets round the sun on their orbits. Get the children to make up their own planet, name it and create a picture of it. Talk about temperature and how that might affect the appearance of their planet (use of colour) and size, which you could then use to compare the size of the planets in our solar system. - **__History__** - Looking at astronomy and how it developed over the years would be really interesting. You could find out about what the Ancient Egyptians and Greeks thought about stars and what they believed, and how the Tudors, Stewarts and Victorians began to discover more and more. - **__Religious Education__** - I am not sure how easy this would be, as we have to tread carefully with how we teach RE, but the Planbee website suggests having a debate about Science V Religion in terms of the creation of the solar system. You could do this by splitting the children into two groups (religious leaders and scientists). - **//Some of the great ideas came from this website I found by typing “solar system cross-curricular” into Google search. This website also has a fantastic working solar system diagram which moves round in time relevant to real life://** - [] - - -
 * __Art__**

__**References**__ A. Cross & A. Bowden (2009). Essential Primary Science. Open University Press. England. Pg 220.

National Curriculum: []

@http://astrobioloblog.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/what-is-a-solar-system/

@http://www.bobthealien.co.uk/moonphase.htm

@http://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/interactives/science/earthandbeyond/shadows.asp

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__**Links**__ For more useful information on this subject and other closely related subjects, have a look at the following pages which have been compiled by our colleagues: Earth, Sun and Moon Lunar Cycle Phases of the Moon Planets The Solar System The Sun