The solar system
CONCEPTUALDescribe 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
Mastery Evidence
- 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
Assessment Prompt
“Can [child] 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?”
Curriculum Standards3 alignments
Y5.Sci.ES.1The national curriculum in Englanddescribe the movement of the Earth and other planets relative to the sun in the solar system
Y5.Sci.ES.2The national curriculum in Englanddescribe the movement of the moon relative to the Earth
Y5.Sci.ES.3The national curriculum in Englanddescribe the sun, Earth and moon as approximately spherical bodies
Prerequisites2
- Naming the PlanetshardAges 5—8
- Sun, Moon, and starshardAges 6—7
Show full prerequisite tree
- Naming the Planets hard
Describing sun, Earth, and moon as spherical bodies and planets orbiting the sun requires solar system vocabulary
- Sun, Moon, and stars hard
Must observe sun/moon patterns before learning about the solar system model
- Naming the Planets hard
Describing predictable patterns of sun, moon, and stars requires planet, star, moon, orbit vocabulary
- Why seasons change hard
Must observe sun/moon/star patterns before relating daylight to time of year
- Naming the Planets soft
Relating daylight length to time of year draws on orbit and solar system vocabulary
- Days, Weeks, Months & Years soft
Observing and describing seasonal changes requires basic date and time vocabulary (months, seasons, year)
- Ordering Events in Time hard
Understanding days/months/years builds on sequencing events chronologically
Unlocks5
- The solar system (age 11+)hardAges 11—12
- Phases of the MoonhardAges 11—12
- Earth's rotation and day/nighthardAges 9—11
- Gravity Pulls Things DownsoftAges 9—11
- Star Brightness & DistancehardAges 10—11