Learning about the solar system is something that children naturally like. The sun, moon, stars, and planets fascinate both little children who watch the stars sparkle in the night sky and older children who ask more difficult questions like “are there other planets with life?” or “are there other solar systems like ours?” A mix of visuals, novels, films, worksheets, and crafts would be a fantastic method to teach youngsters to both basic and complex concepts and lessons about the solar system. When putting together a quality lesson or series of courses on the solar system, the most essential thing to remember is to double-check and investigate your sources to ensure they are credible, accurate, and trustworthy.
Teach students about our solar system’s planets, beginning with Mercury, the planet nearest to the sun. It is ideal to teach youngsters the planets in sequence since it will help them remember them better, just as it is recommended to teach the alphabet starting with A.
Introduce or review the planets via a picture, poster, or doodle. Under Additional Resources, there is a link to a series of photographs depicting the planets in order.
To engage youngsters and pique their interest in learning more about the solar system, show them a movie on the sun, moon, stars, and planets, or play a solar system song.
There are various free video songs about the solar system available online. A link to the solar system movies and music clips may be found in the Additional Resources section. Always double-check the facts and appropriateness of movies and songs before playing them in front of youngsters or in a school.
Complete a series of solar system activities, worksheets, and crafts that are suited for your age group. Any grade level can benefit from an activity and craft combo.
Coloring the planets, placing the planets in order, and making a solar system mobile are all popular hobbies. For younger children, simpler activities include learning to write the letter M on a moon worksheet or the letter A for astronaut. Creating a larger-scale model of the solar system is one of the more difficult solar system tasks. Group activities can include traveling around the world with planet flashcards or breaking the children into groups, each holding one planet picture, and having them compete to see who can get the planets in the “right” sequence first.
Finish the solar system lesson with a video that goes deeper into the subject than the introduction materials or that goes over it again. Children will be ready to study more about the fascinating solar system once they have completed all of the preceding activities.
Small children can view higher-level films and clips on the solar system, galaxies, planets, and stars if the visuals are colorful or the video has child-friendly music in the background since the children will love the colorful introduction to more difficult topics.
Create a way to assess the children’s knowledge of the solar system once they’ve learned about it.
Simple objects such as the moon, stars, Earth, and sun can be asked to be labeled by small children. After giving older children time to explore the materials, they might be asked to set the planets in order. To assess competency, children can be requested to write a report, a narrative, a song, or a model, which can be assessed using a standard that is communicated to the pupils before the assignment is handed in. Children might also be quizzed or assessed on their knowledge of the solar system.
As youngsters learn in science class, planets circle the sun. Building a model of the solar system, complete with the sun, eight planets, and Pluto, reinforces this concept and gives youngsters a hands-on method to learn the planets’ names and order. A model of the solar system can be complex and precise or simple to depict the relative distances of the planets from the sun, depending on the age of the pupils. Teachers can use a sequence from the movie “E.T.” in which E.T. builds a model of the solar system to increase interest.
On a piece of masking tape, write “Sun” and the names of each planet, then lay it aside. 9 bamboo skewers, cut to the following lengths: 2.5 inches, 4 inches, 5 inches, 6 inches, 7 inches, 8 inches, 10 inches, 11.5″, and 14 inches To make it easier to identify them, arrange them in length order.
To identify the planets, attach a labeled strip labeled “Sun” to the largest plastic foam ball and a labeled strip to each of the smaller balls. Before applying a label, paint each ball and let it dry if desired.
Place the 2.5-inch skewer into the “Sun” ball. Carefully insert the “Mercury” ball into the skewer’s free end.
Attach the ball labeled “Venus” to the other end of the next-longest skewer and insert it into the sun. Attach the “Earth” ball to the other end of the third skewer and insert it into the sun.
For each skewer, repeat Step 4 while maintaining the appropriate planetary order: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
If desired, tie a thread to the middle ball (the sun) to hang it.
