Science // Space Exploration

Our Solar System

Know that there are other planets besides Earth and that our group of planets orbiting the Sun is called the solar system — and that space is the vast area beyond Earth's sky

Ages
5 to 7
Type
Concept
Builds on
1 topic
Leads to
3 topics

Quick check

Does the learner know that Earth is one of several planets that go around the Sun, and that this group is called the solar system?

Ask this to see whether the topic is secure.

Topic // Mastery

What mastery looks like

What a learner can do once this topic is secure.
  • State that Earth is a planet and there are other planets too
  • Use the term 'solar system' to describe the Sun and the planets that orbit it
  • Explain that space is the area beyond the Earth's sky, where the planets and stars are

Topic // Map

Where this fits

What to learn first and what this topic opens up, with the reason for each link. Required links come first.
  • RequiredMust come first
  • HelpfulHelps, but not essential

Before this

1 topic
  • Sun, Moon & StarsRequired

    Space Exploration // Ages 5 to 7

    Must know the Sun and stars before learning about planets and the solar system

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Our Solar System

Ages 5 to 7 // Concept

Leads to

3 topics
  • The Sun is a starRequired

    Space Exploration // Ages 7 to 9

    Must know about the solar system before learning the Sun is at its centre

  • The Eight PlanetsRequired

    Space Exploration // Ages 7 to 9

    Must know planets exist before listing them in order

  • What Astronauts DoHelpful

    Space Exploration // Ages 5 to 7

    Knowing about space and planets provides context for understanding astronauts

Topic // Research-informed

Teaching notes

From the Marble Skill Taxonomy. These notes have not been validated in classrooms, so treat them as a starting point for your own judgement.

The approach

First orientation for 5–7 year olds to the 'big picture' of space: Earth is one planet among several, the Sun together with the planets going around it is called the solar system, and space is the vast, mostly empty area far beyond Earth's sky. The goal at this age is orienting vocabulary and a rough mental map, not mechanism. The key conceptual move is decentring — helping children see Earth as one planet among others, not the whole of everything and not fundamentally different from the other planets — and distinguishing planets (which orbit the Sun and don't make their own light) from the Sun/stars. Because scale is unimaginable and unobservable at this age, teaching leans on zoom-out imagery, simple diagrams and playful orbiting role-play rather than numbers.

Common misconceptions

  • Earth is not a planet / Earth is separate from or bigger than 'the planets' (Earth is one planet among several)
  • The Sun is a planet, or planets and stars are the same kind of thing (planets orbit the Sun and don't make their own light)
  • Space 'starts' just above the rooftops / the sky and space are the same nearby thing (space is enormously far beyond the sky)
  • The solar system IS the whole universe / everything (it is just our Sun and its planets — a tiny part of a much bigger universe; formalised later)
  • The Sun goes around the Earth (leave cause aside, but avoid stories that entrench an Earth-centred picture)

Useful representations

  • A zoom-out sequence: Earth's ground → Earth as a ball → the Sun with planets orbiting (the canonical orienting image)
  • A simple Sun-in-the-middle diagram with planets on their paths, 'solar system' labelling the whole
  • Embodied orbit model (children as planets walking around a central 'Sun')
  • A picture contrasting 'on Earth / in the sky / out in space' to fix where space is

Teaching practices

  • Build the picture by zooming OUT from the familiar: start on Earth (a place they know), pull back to Earth-as-a-ball-in-space, then to the Sun with planets going round, naming 'solar system' as the whole group
  • Use 'orbit / goes around' through embodied play: children walk in circles around a 'Sun' to feel that planets travel around it, so 'the Sun and the planets that go around it' is acted, not just told
  • Explicitly decentre Earth: state and revisit that Earth IS a planet, one of several, so children don't treat it as separate from or bigger than 'the planets'
  • Keep 'space' concrete as a boundary idea — 'the huge area beyond Earth's sky, where the Sun, Moon, planets and stars are' — and that it is mostly empty and very far away
  • Distinguish planet from star simply: planets go around the Sun and do not make their own light; the Sun (a star) gives light — foreshadowing later topics without overloading

Activities to try

  1. 1

    Zoom out from a familiar place into space

    Why it works: Seeing their own Earth shrink to one ball among several is intended to help children feel that Earth is a planet like the others, not the whole world, and that space is enormously far beyond the everyday sky.

    1. Start on a familiar Earth scene — for example a park under a blue sky — then 'zoom out' in stages (on screen with a tap/button, or using a sequence of pictures/paper cards you reveal one at a time)
    2. Watch the ground curve away until the child's whole world is just a blue-and-green ball floating in black
    3. Zoom out again so that ball slides into place as one of several planets looping around a bright Sun, with the whole group labelled 'our solar system'
    4. Name each part as you touch it: tap/point to Earth → 'Earth is a planet — one of several going around the Sun'; the Sun → 'the Sun gives light; the planets go around it'; the black between planets → 'space — the huge, mostly empty area far beyond our sky'
    5. Open a lift-the-flap (or turn a card) answering 'where does space start?' by pointing up past the clouds, far above the sky (point toward the represented scene, not toward the real Sun)
  2. 2

    Walk the orbit: become a planet going around the Sun

    Why it works: Acting out orbiting is intended to make 'the Sun and the planets that go around it' something children feel in their bodies, reinforcing the meaning of 'solar system' and that the Sun sits in the middle with planets circling it.

    1. Set up a central 'Sun' (a child, a lamp, or a marked spot) and have children walk in circles around it to act out 'the planets travel around the Sun'
    2. Say the sentence as they move: 'the Sun stays in the middle while the planets go around it'
    3. Point out that the Sun gives light while the planets do not make their own light — they are lit up by the Sun
    4. Pause to 'find Earth' among the moving planets and confirm Earth is one of the ones going around
  3. 3

    Watch the planets orbit the Sun

    Why it works: Seeing 'going around the Sun' in motion is intended to make the orbit idea concrete and reinforce that Earth is one of several planets circling the Sun.

    1. Press play on a simple Sun-with-orbiting-planets animation (or watch the walking-orbit game) and watch the planets circle the Sun
    2. Tap/point to a planet to hear or say its name
    3. Respond to a gentle 'find Earth' prompt and confirm Earth is one of the orbiting planets

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