Lesson 3 of 84 · Space
Lesson⭐ 30 XP🚀 StarbaseOur Solar System
Our Solar System.
🎯 Your mission
Understand the idea. Then look for it everywhere.
⚡ The twist
Gravity is invisible — but it shapes everything.
Mind = Blown
🌌 If you could drive a car straight up at highway speed, you'd reach space in under an hour.
Make a hypothesis first
Before you check: which is closer?
What You'll Learn
The solar system has eight planets orbiting the sun. The four inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) are rocky, and the four outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) are gaseous.
Key Words
- light-year
- nebula
Steps
Read the introduction and identify the main idea of this lesson.
Use a flashlight, a large ball, and a small ball to model eclipses. Show both a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse.
Use your senses (except taste) to describe what you notice.
Write a summary of your findings in 3-5 sentences.
Check Your Understanding
Question 1
1 of 3How many planets are in our solar system?
Where you see this in real life
GPS, weather forecasts, and the seasons all rely on this.
Stretch Challenge
Try this in real life 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?”
Next Smart Experiment
We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.
Share this experiment
Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.
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