Year 5 · Autumn 1.2 · Step 6

Earth & Space

Planet Earth

Our planet spins on a tilted axis once every 24 hours — and it's the Earth that moves, not the Sun.

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: ideas over time.

Recap: ideas over time

🌱 Seedling
Working towards

Match:

Geocentric = Earth centre · Heliocentric = Sun centre
🌿 Sapling
Expected
  1. Who said the Sun was at the centre?
  2. What did Galileo use?
  3. Which model is correct?
🌳 Oak
Greater depth

Why did it take so long for people to accept the Sun-centred model?

Bridge into todayEarth orbits the Sun once a year. But it also spins — and that spin gives us something we all know: the day.
Starter 5 min

Ask: does the Sun really move across the sky?

Does the Sun move?

It looks like the Sun rises, crosses the sky and sets — but is that what really happens?

🌱 Seedling
Working towards

True or false: the Sun moves around the Earth.

🌿 Sapling
Expected

If the Sun stays still, what must be moving to make it "rise" and "set"?

🌳 Oak
Greater depth

Explain why it looks like the Sun moves, even though it is the Earth that spins.

I do · 1 6 min

Teacher models. Watch how Earth spins.

Earth on its axis

▶ Can't see it? Watch "Earth's Rotation – Day and Night" on YouTube

Swap the clip: change the ID after /embed/ (now zgzC69-bzYc).

Say thisEarth rotates on its axis — an imaginary line between the North Pole and South Pole — once every 24 hours. The Sun does not move; Earth does. One full spin gives us a day.
🌍
Rotatespin on axis
🧭
AxisPole to Pole
🕛
24 hours= one day
We do · 1 6 min

Use a globe (or fists) to show the spin and the poles.

Show the spin

Model it
Point to the North Pole (top) and South Pole (bottom). The axis runs between them. Spin the globe once = one day.
"The Sun is like the lamp — it stays still. The Earth turns towards it and away from it."
I do · 2 4 min

Play the animation. Bust the "Sun goes round Earth" myth.

The Sun stays still

Sun Earth spins on its tilted axis — the Sun stays still

Earth spins on its tilted axis once every 24 hours. The Sun does not move.

Bust the mythsThe Sun does not rotate around the Earth — Earth rotates. The Sun is the largest object in the Solar System (not Earth), and so far Earth is the only planet known to support life.

Watch for: pupils saying the Sun "goes round us" or "moves across the sky".

We do · 2 5 min

Sort true/false statements about Earth together.

True or false?

Check it
"The Sun rotates around Earth" → ?    "Earth spins once every 24 hours" → ?    "Earth is the biggest object in the Solar System" → ?
Seasons happen over a year as Earth orbits the Sun — a different motion from the daily spin.
Independent 10 min

On your own. Sort each fact, then write.

Planet Earth sorter

🌀 Earth's rotation & day

🍂 The seasons

☀️ The Sun & life

Tap a fact to sort it…

🌱 Seedling
Working towards

Sort the facts. Then finish: Earth spins once every ____ hours.

🌿 Sapling
Expected

Sort them, then explain what "Earth rotates on its axis" means.

🌳 Oak
Greater depth

Sort them, then explain why it looks like the Sun moves across the sky.

Exit ticket 4 min

Answer at your tier, then hand it in.

Show what you know

🌱 Seedling
Working towards
  • Earth spins on its ____.
  • One full spin takes ____ hours.
🌿 Sapling
Expected
  1. What does "rotate on its axis" mean?
  2. What are the North and South Poles?
  3. Does the Sun move, or the Earth?
🌳 Oak
Greater depth

Explain why the Sun appears to rise and set, using the words rotate and axis.

🧭 Coming nextEarth's spin gives us the day. Next we see exactly how it makes night and day.
TA Focus · Planet Earth
Traps to watch

Myths: the Sun rotates around Earth (no — Earth rotates), Earth is the biggest object (no — the Sun is), and other planets support life (currently only Earth is known to). It only looks like the Sun moves.

Tier steer
Always

Earth moves; the Sun stays still. Axis = Pole to Pole.

Cold Call · Question bank
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