Gravity and Orbits

Lab Brief #5

🎯 Your mission

Understand the idea. Then look for it everywhere.

⚡ The twist

Gravity is invisible — but it shapes everything.

What you'll learn

Gravity keeps planets in orbit around the sun and moons in orbit around planets. The strength of gravity depends on mass and distance between objects.

Key words

gravity
A force that pulls things down toward the Earth.
inner planets
The four rocky planets closest to the sun.
outer planets
The four big planets farthest from the Sun beyond the asteroid belt.

Make a hypothesis first

Before you check: which is closer?

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Look at the vocabulary words and write a definition for each in your own words.

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Calculate your weight on different planets by multiplying your Earth weight by each planet's gravity factor. Make a bar graph of the results.

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Note any unexpected results and think about why they happened.

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Share your findings with the class or a partner and discuss what you learned.

Question 1 of 3

What keeps planets in orbit around the sun?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 3

How long does it take Earth to orbit the sun?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 3 of 3

What causes moon phases?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Mind = blown

🌌 If you could drive a car straight up at highway speed, you'd reach space in under an hour.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 3 right.

Next: Mars, the Red Planet All lessons

🎯

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✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: GPS, weather forecasts, and the seasons all rely on this.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): Find a constellation in the sky. Look it up. Tell someone its story.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “If you could visit any planet, which would you pick and why?”

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