GROW · Science · Week 6B · Do
Solar System: Build the Orbit Model
🧭
Science mission
Build Mission Control: make a model that tells the truth about what it represents.
Build Mission Control: make a model that tells the truth about what it represents.
Visual model: use it to predict and explain — not as decoration.
Aut1·W6 — Describe the movement of the Earth and other planets around the Sun.
🎯 Learning objective: I can build and annotate a model that shows planet order and orbital movement accurately for its purpose.
✅ Success criteria
- I can place the planets in the correct order.
- I can model orbiting around the Sun.
- I can explain one strength and one limitation of the model.
ArrivalStarterI DoWe DoI Do 2We Do 2Independent evidenceExit + one Lundy close
v3 40-minute route · derived from current GROW lesson Science_Teesside/Grow/SCI_G_W6_Earth_And_Planets.html at main SHA 93d570041f4c · repository originals untouched.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Space → Voice → Audience → Influence runs through the lesson; it is not an extra activity at the end.
⏱ 3 min
Arrival
Staff influence opener — SAY, don’t record: “Last lesson your evidence showed ___. Today we are starting by remembering ___.”
Retrieve the previous lesson: W6A — planet order, rocky/gas/ice classification, and gravity bending forward motion into an orbit. Order from the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
Not here last lesson? Everything you need is in the box above — read it, then answer.
◆ Supported — three retrieval questions and one lead-in
R1 Last lesson
Point to the planet closest to the Sun.
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can write down your exact words. Next step up: Standard — Last lesson you put the planets in order. Which one is third from the Sun?
R2 Week 5
Say the one thing we change in a fair test.
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can write down your exact words. Next step up: Standard — Week 5: name what to change, what to measure and what to keep the same.
R3 Week 3
Point to a surface that grips.
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can write down your exact words. Next step up: Standard — Week 3: what does friction do to a moving object?
Lead-in Into today
We build a model today. Point to what it should show.
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can write down your exact words. Next step up: Standard — Our model cannot show the right size and the right distance at once. Which should we choose?
▲ Standard — three retrieval questions and one lead-in
R1 Last lesson
Last lesson you put the planets in order. Which one is third from the Sun?
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can write down your exact words. Next step up: Stretch — Last lesson: explain how gravity keeps a planet in orbit instead of moving in a straight line.
R2 Week 5
Week 5: name what to change, what to measure and what to keep the same.
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can write down your exact words. Next step up: Stretch — Week 5: explain why a model, like a test, has to be honest about its limits.
R3 Week 3
Week 3: what does friction do to a moving object?
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can write down your exact words. Next step up: Stretch — Week 3: there is almost no friction in space. Say what that changes about motion.
Lead-in Into today
Our model cannot show the right size and the right distance at once. Which should we choose?
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can write down your exact words. Next step up: Stretch — Every model gets something wrong on purpose. What must ours get right to be useful?
★ Stretch — three retrieval questions and one lead-in
R1 Last lesson
Last lesson: explain how gravity keeps a planet in orbit instead of moving in a straight line.
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can write down your exact words. Next step up: Supported — Point to the planet closest to the Sun.
R2 Week 5
Week 5: explain why a model, like a test, has to be honest about its limits.
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can write down your exact words. Next step up: Supported — Say the one thing we change in a fair test.
R3 Week 3
Week 3: there is almost no friction in space. Say what that changes about motion.
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can write down your exact words. Next step up: Supported — Point to a surface that grips.
Lead-in Into today
Every model gets something wrong on purpose. What must ours get right to be useful?
Non-reading route: point to it, say it, or show it. An adult can write down your exact words. Next step up: Supported — We build a model today. Point to what it should show.
Rule: Arrival retrieves three times and then leads in. R1 is last lesson, R2 is the previous week, R3 is older material, and the lead-in opens today without teaching today’s concept.
Ways to show the Science
🗣 Say it☝ Point / select
✍ Write / draw🧪 Practical / model
A pause or different route changes access, not the learning goal.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Influence is made visible here: retrieve what the previous lesson actually showed before adding new Science.
⏱ 3 min
Starter👀 Notice❓ Wonder🎯 Predict🗣 Explain
🔍 Bridge into today
If the Sun’s gravity disappeared in our model, what would you predict happens to Earth’s path? Choose a direction before the model runs.
🎯 Commit to a prediction
Before we build: should our model be true to size or true to distance?
Choose one. Say it, point to it, or press it.
Nothing here is right or wrong yet. Nothing is marked, scored or stored. A prediction still counts when it turns out differently. That is what makes the test worth running.
Frame 1 / 4
SET THE MODEL PURPOSE
Predict → notice → explain. Pause whenever a pupil idea needs receiving.
Frame 2 / 4
BUILD ORDER
Predict → notice → explain. Pause whenever a pupil idea needs receiving.
Frame 3 / 4
SHOW THE ORBIT
Predict → notice → explain. Pause whenever a pupil idea needs receiving.
Frame 4 / 4
CRITIQUE THE MODEL
Predict → notice → explain. Pause whenever a pupil idea needs receiving.
Low prior knowledge is expected. Notice, choose, predict or ask a question. The scientific explanation comes next.
Ways to show the Science
🗣 Say it☝ Point / select
✍ Write / draw🧪 Practical / model
A pause or different route changes access, not the learning goal.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Voice first: low-entry prediction or noticing before today’s explanation is taught.
⏱ 4 min
I Do
🧠 Watch the thinking, not just the finished answer.
Teacher-controlled model: reveal the invisible Science as you narrate.
✔ What this model helps us seeIt shows the order of the planets and the direction they travel around the Sun.
✘ What this model does not showIt leaves out scale — a model that is honest about distance cannot be honest about size on the same page.
State the purpose before building: today’s model is for order and movement, not a perfect scale model.
Place the Sun and one planet; add a forward-motion arrow and an inward-gravity arrow.
Demonstrate the curved path without running, throwing or implying that planets need a surface to travel on.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Space first: the model makes invisible thinking visible while support staff observe access and readiness.
⏱ 4 min
We Do
Commit before reveal: What keeps Earth’s path curved around the Sun?
Choose an answer. A first attempt is information, not a score.
Ways to show the Science
🗣 Say it☝ Point / select
✍ Write / draw🧪 Practical / model
A pause or different route changes access, not the learning goal.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Voice → Audience → Influence: everyone commits; the response decides re-model, recheck, adapt access or move on.
⏱ 3 min
I Do
🧠 Watch the thinking, not just the finished answer.
Separate ‘what the model shows’ from ‘what the real Solar System is like’.
Model a limitation statement: ‘The order is useful, but the sizes/distances are not to scale.’
Show how changing the model can improve one feature while making another harder to represent.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Space first: the model makes invisible thinking visible while support staff observe access and readiness.
⏱ 4 min
We Do
Explore together: Orbit viewer
🌍 Orbit viewer
Move Earth through four positions. At every position the Sun’s gravity points inward while motion continues.
Gravity → inward · Motion → forward
Choose a position, then point where gravity acts.
📐 Honest Model Lab
The orbit viewer above shows the movement. This lab is about the decision you have to make before you build: what your model is allowed to get wrong.
Step 1 · Predict, before you test
Our model cannot be true to size and true to distance at the same time. Which should we choose?
Choose one. Say it, point to it, or press it. Nothing here is right or wrong yet.
Step 2 · Test each one
Press one to see what it does.
Frozen results — these stay on the page
Nothing tested yet.
Step 3 · Explain
SCIENCE GLITCH: “A good model gets everything right.”
Use your frozen list as the evidence. Decide, then say why.
Every step is a button, and each option carries a shape and a word as well as its colour. Say it, point to it or have an adult press it — the route does not change the Science.
Talk move: “What changed? What stayed the same? What does that make you think?”
Ways to show the Science
🗣 Say it☝ Point / select
✍ Write / draw🧪 Practical / model
A pause or different route changes access, not the learning goal.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Voice → Audience → Influence: everyone commits; the response decides re-model, recheck, adapt access or move on.
⏱ 15 min
Independent
✏️ Your independent product / decision
Build a desk or floor model. Place the planets in order. Show one orbit safely. Add MOTION FORWARD + GRAVITY INWARD labels. Then explain one limit. Say what your model cannot show.
🧪 PRACTICAL READY · HANDS-ON WHERE IT HELPS LEARNING
EquipmentPlanet cards/balls, Sun marker, labels, tape/string, large paper and force/motion arrows.
Safety / sensoryWalking only; no throwing model objects. Desk model/director route remains available.
Evidence targetModel photo/drawing + annotated gravity/motion arrows + one model limitation.
15 minutes. Supported / Standard / Stretch are routes, not identities. Pupils can move when the core is secure.
◆ Use the numbered planet cards. The type key is given. The orbit arrows are drawn.
Show only the next three planet cards. Keep the rest face down. Use the order strip too.
Fade it: remove the first prompt that is no longer needed; do not keep a scaffold because it was used once.
▲ Build the correct order yourself. Then annotate your model. Show gravity with one arrow. Show motion with another.
Two-arrow frame: ‘Motion carries the planet forward. Gravity pulls it inward. So it orbits the Sun.’
Fade it: remove the first prompt that is no longer needed; do not keep a scaffold because it was used once.
★ Outer planets have longer years. Explain why this happens. Then evaluate your model. Say which part is least realistic.
Compare two models you could build. Pick the better one. Say why it answers today’s scientific question.
Fade it: remove the first prompt that is no longer needed; do not keep a scaffold because it was used once.
Evidence can look different:
Photo/drawing of ordered model + annotationsPupil explanation recorded verbatim by adultAnnotated paper modelShort approved digital model explanation
A photo on its own is not proof. Add what the pupil decided, explained, found or judged.
1 · Pupil decisionPrediction, choice, plan or question.
2 · Observable ScienceAction, model, product, result or re-attempt.
3 · Pupil meaningExplanation, evaluation or next step.
Ways to show the Science
🗣 Say it☝ Point / select
✍ Write / draw🧪 Practical / model
A pause or different route changes access, not the learning goal.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
The pupil authors a product/decision; adult support fades and evidence shows thinking, not attendance.
📖 WORD HELP
modelsomething built to stand for the real thing
orbitthe path one object takes around another
representstand for something real
Use the scientific word first. Ask for help only when you need it. TA fade route: model the word. Then prompt for it. Then wait for it. Drop a step as soon as the pupil no longer needs it.
⏱ 4 min
Exit
◆ Supported
Name the force pulling planets towards the Sun.
▲ Standard
Explain how gravity and forward motion combine to make an orbit.
★ Stretch
Evaluate one strength and one limitation of your model.
🔁 GROW Lundy close — ONE line only.
1) Pupil answers the Science question. 2) Adult genuinely receives it and gives one next step. 3) Pupil writes: “Next I will ______.”
No adult signature, initial or second receipt mark. If nothing needs changing, the next step can be transfer to a new example or greater independence.
✍ GROW written close — the pupil writes this line
“What I said, and what it changed:”
No adult initial is required. The adult is audience for this line, not verifier. There is no signature, initial, tick or receipt mark. The line closes when it is written and received.
If writing is hard: say it, and an adult writes down your exact words. Or point to what changed and say it aloud. Or draw it and give it one spoken caption. Or record it in the school’s own workflow. The line always stays. The route changes how you answer, not the Science.
Ways to show the Science
🗣 Say it☝ Point / select
✍ Write / draw🧪 Practical / model
A pause or different route changes access, not the learning goal.
🛡 SPACE
🗣 VOICE
👂 AUDIENCE
⚙ INFLUENCE
Adult genuinely receives the exit response, gives one next step, and the pupil writes one closure line. No signature.