| The Earth, Sun and Moon |
The Solar System
Our planet, Earth, is part of the SOLAR SYSTEM.
The Solar System contains the Sun and 9 planets.
Several of the planets have moons.
The planets are in orbit around the sun.
This means that they travel in a curved path around the sun
The Moon goes around the Earth and the Earth goes around the Sun
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The curved path taken by a planet as it moves is called its orbit
The blue line shows the orbit of the moon around the Earth The red line shows the orbit of the Earth as it travels around the Sun
The Earth takes 365 days to travel around the Sun (1 year) The Moon takes 28 days to travel around the Earth (1 lunar month)
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The Year
The length of time it takes a planet to go around the Sun is called a YEAR.
On Earth a year = 365 days, but it is not the same for all the planets.
Usually the further a planet is away from the sun the longer the year is.
Diagram of our Solar System with the planets arranged in order
The Earth spins on an imaginary line called its axis.
The spin of the Earth causes day and night as only one side of the Earth can be lit at once.
The length of time to spin once on its axis is called a day.
On Earth 1 day = 24 hours
 As the Earth spins different parts of it get lit up by the Sun |
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As the Sun moves across the sky it causes shadows
Diagram showing shadows produced by the sun shining on a stick in the ground.
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The Sun rises in the East |
At mid-day, when the Sun is highest, the shadow is shortest Shadows are shorter in summer than in winter because the sun is higher in the sky
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The sun sets in the west. |
Looking south |
Moon Fact File The Moon is smaller than the Earth (about 6 times smaller) The Moon is a natural satellite of the Earth The Moon is is in orbit around the Earth The Moon takes 28 days to complete one orbit We see the moon because it reflects light from the Sun
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We see the moon different shapes depanding on which side is lit.
The different shapes are called the phases of the moon
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This is a photograph of the moon with the sun shining from the right |
Click here to see more phases of the Moon
CURRENT MOON moon info |
How many planets are there?
How long does it take the Earth to move around the Sun?
Name the force that holds the Earth in orbit around the Sun
Is the moon a star, planet or satellite?
What causes NIGHT and DAY
How long does it take the Moon to go around the Earth?
Why does the moon appear different shapes?
Further research
Link which shows the Earth moving around the Sun
Solar System : Very good!
The solar system (children's version)
The Solar System good!
Star Child guide to the Solar system
From The School
Observatory Website: Each of these three links contains lots of useful
information
The
Earth, Moon and Sun
Our
Solar System
Beyond
the planets
Star Child A guide to astronomy
NASA tour of the planets
A site run by NASA that gives photographs of the
planets along with a description
Powers of Ten - Soar through space starting at 10 million light years away from the Milky Way down through to a single proton in Florida
Tides: the Encharted Learning site
Cut out and make a scale solar system!
Double click on the image to load it full size.
It will print out A4 size so may take a few momentts to download
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