Year 5 · Autumn 1.2 · Step 4

Earth & Space

Motion of the Earth and planets

Gravity keeps the planets looping around the Sun — and every planet's year is different.

Arrival Starter I do We do Independent Exit ticket
🌱 Seedling · Working towards 🌿 Sapling · Expected 🌳 Oak · Greater depth

⏱ Whole lesson ≈ 44 min · pick a tier in the bar, or leave on "All"

Arrival 4 min

Whiteboard recap of last lesson: modelling.

Recap: models

🌱 Seedling
Working towards

True or false?

A model shows real sizes · A model helps us picture orbits
🌿 Sapling
Expected
  1. What is a model?
  2. One advantage?
  3. One disadvantage?
🌳 Oak
Greater depth

Why can a model never be perfectly to scale in a classroom?

Bridge into todayModels show the planets moving. But what makes them move — and stay in orbit? One word: gravity.
Starter 5 min

Ask: why don't the planets just fly off into space?

What holds them in?

Something invisible keeps every planet looping around the Sun…

🌱 Seedling
Working towards

Fill the gap:

The Sun's ______ keeps the planets in orbit.
🌿 Sapling
Expected

Explain in a sentence why the planets stay near the Sun.

🌳 Oak
Greater depth

What do you think would happen to the planets if the Sun vanished?

I do · 1 6 min

Teacher models. Watch, then reason about orbits.

Gravity and orbits

▶ Can't see it? Watch "The Solar System — movement and orbits (KS2)" on YouTube

Swap the clip: change the ID after /embed/ (now dgrhNdNUzPM).

Say thisThe Sun has the greatest gravitational pull, so every planet orbits it — the heliocentric model. Planets near the Sun orbit quickly; planets far away orbit slowly. Each planet has its own length of year.
🧲
Gravitythe Sun's pull
🔁
Orbit= one year
☀️
Sun-centredheliocentric
We do · 1 6 min

Order the planets by how long their orbit takes.

Fast or slow?

Mercury (88 days) · Earth (365 days) · Jupiter (12 years) · Neptune (165 years)

Reason it out
Closer to the Sun → shorter path and faster → shorter year. Further out → longer path → longer year.
"Mercury is closest, so it has the shortest orbit. Neptune is furthest, so it has the longest."
I do · 2 4 min

Play the animation. Bust the "same year for all" myth.

Different speeds

Sun Near the Sun = fast orbit Far away = slow orbit

Planets near the Sun orbit fast; planets far out orbit slowly. Each year is different.

Bust the mythNot every planet takes 365 days! Earth takes about a year, but Jupiter takes about 12 Earth years. A planet's day (one spin) is different from its year (one orbit).

Watch for: pupils assuming every planet has the same length year as Earth.

We do · 2 5 min

Separate "day" ideas from "year" ideas together.

Day vs year

Two different motions
Spin on its axis → a day.   Go once around the Sun → a year.
And the reason it stays in orbit at all is gravity — the Sun's pull.
Independent 10 min

On your own. Sort each fact, then explain.

Year, day or gravity?

🔁 About the year (orbit)

🌀 About the day (rotation)

🧲 About gravity

Tap a fact to sort it…

🌱 Seedling
Working towards

Sort the facts. Then finish: The Sun's ______ keeps the planets in orbit.

🌿 Sapling
Expected

Sort them, then explain why Mercury has a shorter year than Neptune.

🌳 Oak
Greater depth

Sort them, then explain the difference between a planet's day and its year.

Exit ticket 4 min

Answer at your tier, then hand it in.

Show what you know

🌱 Seedling
Working towards
  • Planets orbit the ____.
  • The Sun's ____ keeps them in orbit.
🌿 Sapling
Expected
  1. Why do the planets stay in orbit?
  2. Why does Mercury orbit fastest?
  3. What is the heliocentric model?
🌳 Oak
Greater depth

Explain why not every planet takes 365 days to orbit the Sun.

🧭 Coming nextWe know the Sun is at the centre. But people didn't always think so — next we see how ideas changed over time.
TA Focus · Motion of the Earth and planets
Traps to watch

Big myth: every planet takes ~365 days (no — each differs; Jupiter ≈ 12 Earth years). Also keep day (one spin) separate from year (one orbit).

Tier steer
Always

Gravity → orbit. Closer to the Sun → shorter, faster year.
Cold Call · Question bank
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