Science // Space Systems & Earth's History

The solar system

Describe the sun, Earth, and moon as approximately spherical bodies, and describe the movement of the Earth and other planets orbiting the sun in the solar system

Ages
9 to 10
Type
Concept
Builds on
2 topics
Leads to
5 topics
Standards
3 codes

Quick check

Can the learner describe the solar system — how Earth and the other planets orbit the sun, and how the moon orbits Earth, and that they're all roughly ball-shaped?

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 the sun, Earth, and moon are approximately spherical
  • Name the planets in order from the sun and explain they all orbit the sun
  • Describe the moon orbiting the Earth while both orbit the sun

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

2 topics
  • Naming the PlanetsRequired

    Space Systems & Earth's History // Ages 5 to 8

    Describing sun, Earth, and moon as spherical bodies and planets orbiting the sun requires solar system vocabulary

  • Sun, Moon, and starsRequired

    Space Systems & Earth's History // Ages 6 to 7

    Must observe sun/moon patterns before learning about the solar system model

You are here

The solar system

Ages 9 to 10 // Concept

Leads to

5 topics
  • Earth's rotation and day/nightRequired

    Space Systems & Earth's History // Ages 9 to 11

    Must understand Earth orbits the sun before explaining rotation causes day/night

  • Star Brightness & DistanceRequired

    Space Systems & Earth's History // Ages 10 to 11

    Must know the sun is a star and planets orbit it before arguing about star brightness and distance

  • Phases of the MoonRequired

    Space Systems & Earth's History // Ages 11 to 12

    Explaining Moon phases requires understanding the Sun–Earth–Moon geometry established in KS2

  • The solar system (age 11+)Required

    Space Systems & Earth's History // Ages 11 to 12

    Detailed solar system structure (moons, asteroids, comets, orbital periods) extends KS2 overview of planets orbiting the Sun

  • Gravity Pulls Things DownHelpful

    Space Exploration // Ages 9 to 11

    Curriculum spherical bodies/orbits topic underpins exploratory gravity understanding

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

Year 5 'Earth and space': build the heliocentric model — the Sun (a star) at the centre with Earth and the other planets orbiting it, the Moon orbiting Earth while Earth orbits the Sun, and the Sun, Earth and Moon as approximately spherical bodies. The core difficulty is the deep geocentric intuition and the nested two-orbit system (Moon to Earth, Earth to Sun), plus a flat-disc reading of the bodies. Teach it with enacted/physical models children move themselves, a top-down orbit model they run and compare against observation, explicit sphericity evidence, and the history of ideas (Ptolemy's Earth-centred model, Alhazen's critique of it, and Copernicus's Sun-centred model).

Common misconceptions

  • The Sun orbits or goes around the Earth (the geocentric model), or everything orbits Earth.
  • The Sun, Earth and Moon are flat discs rather than spheres.
  • The Moon orbits the Sun directly, rather than orbiting Earth while both orbit the Sun.
  • The Sun is somehow different from 'a star'.
  • Planets are close together and similar in size (a scale error from diagrams); Pluto is still a planet.

Useful representations

  • A heliocentric model — Sun-centred with the planets' orbits, Earth among them.
  • A nested-orbit diagram: Moon → Earth, Earth (and planets) → Sun.
  • Physical enactment: a child as the orbiting/spinning Earth around a lamp Sun, a partner as the Moon.
  • A globe plus light source, and photos showing the Sun, Earth and Moon as spheres.
  • A 'not to scale' caption or scale strip.

Teaching practices

  • Use kinesthetic/physical models children enact — be the Earth orbiting a lamp 'Sun' while a partner 'Moon' orbits you — because manipulating the model beats watching a demonstration.
  • Establish sphericity explicitly (the Sun, Earth and Moon are balls, not discs) using globes and real photos, since many children hold a flat-disc or flat-sky model.
  • Distinguish the two nested orbits clearly: the Moon orbits Earth, and Earth (with all the planets) orbits the Sun — the common confusion is what orbits what.
  • Bridge from the geocentric intuition to the heliocentric model using the story of ideas (Ptolemy, Alhazen, Copernicus), which makes the counter-intuitive model credible.
  • Handle scale honestly — flag that diagrams compress sizes and distances hugely and are not to scale.
  • Keep 'rotation causes day and night' as the linked next step; here concentrate on the orbital model and sphericity.

Activities to try

  1. 1

    Be the Earth, the Moon and the Sun — enact the nested orbits

    Why it works: The Moon orbits Earth while the Earth–Moon pair together travel round the Sun — two simultaneous, nested orbits, not the Moon circling the Sun directly.

    1. In a group of three, place a lamp or ball as the Sun. One child is the Earth and walks a slow circle around the Sun.
    2. The 'Moon' child circles the 'Earth' child continuously WHILE the Earth keeps walking its orbit around the Sun, so both motions happen at once.
    3. Pause and say aloud: 'The Moon goes around the Earth, and the Earth (with the Moon) goes around the Sun.'
    4. Swap roles so every child has been the Moon that must keep looping its Earth while the Earth travels.
  2. 2

    Run and compare a top-down solar-system model

    Why it works: The Sun-centred model, with the Moon still orbiting Earth, accounts for the planets' observed motions more simply; together with later observations, this is why it replaced the earlier Earth-centred model.

    1. Run a top-down view: the planets glide around the Sun while the Moon circles the Earth. Use a time slider to speed up, slow down or scrub the motion.
    2. Watch specifically for the Moon looping the Earth AT THE SAME TIME as the Earth loops the Sun, and describe this nesting in your own words.
    3. Flip a toggle to an Earth-centred arrangement (Sun and everything circling the Earth) and compare it with the Sun-centred one.
    4. Compare the two using concrete things the model shows: notice that the Moon circles the Earth in both arrangements, so look at the planets. In which arrangement do the planets' paths, including times when a planet seems to drift backwards across our sky, come out more simply? Explain your choice.
  3. 3

    Spheres, not discs — gather the evidence

    Why it works: The Sun, Earth and Moon are approximately spherical bodies, not flat discs drawn on a flat sky.

    1. Handle a globe lit by a single light source and describe how light falls on a ball versus a flat disc.
    2. Look at real photographs of the Sun, Earth and Moon taken from space and state whether each is a ball or a flat circle.
    3. List evidence that the bodies are spheres: photos from space of all three; for Earth, the curved shadow it casts on the Moon during a lunar eclipse and ships disappearing hull-first over the horizon; for the Moon, the curved edge between its lit and dark parts as its phases change.
    4. Say the conclusion in full: 'The Sun, Earth and Moon are approximately spherical.'

Topic // Standards

Curriculum standards

Codes for the curriculum statements this topic maps to. Each publisher owns its standard text.
The national curriculum in England: Key stages 1 and 2 framework document
Y5.Sci.ES.1Y5.Sci.ES.2Y5.Sci.ES.3

Science // Space Systems & Earth's History

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