Study Guides

Unit Summary

This unit covers the movement of the Earth, moon, and planets, describing them as spherical bodies. It explains Earth's rotation, causing day and night, and the sun's apparent movement. Emphasis is on recording complex data, presenting findings, and evaluating scientific evidence.

Lesson Summary

You can consider evidence from space and describe the shapes of the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon.

Key Notes

• Throughout history, people have disagreed about the shape of objects in space, such as planets, moons and stars.
• The Earth, Sun and Moon are approximately spherical in shape.
• Images and measurements taken from space provide evidence to help us understand the shape of objects in space.

Vocabulary To Learn

• Earth: Earth is the planet on which we live
• Sun: The Sun is a star and the centre of our solar system
• Moon: Our Moon is an object that travels around planet Earth
• spherical: A shape that is spherical is perfectly round like a ball
• evidence: Evidence is information which helps us to prove that something is true or not true

Common Mistakes To Avoid

• Pupils may think that objects in space are flat, circular shapes rather than spherical.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

More Lessons In This Unit

• How we see the Moon from Earth Study Guide
• More about the Sun (non-statutory) Study Guide
• Observing the Moon Study Guide
• Scientific theories from the past (non-statutory) Study Guide
• The movement of the Moon Study Guide
• The movement of the planets around the Sun Study Guide
• The planets in our solar system (non-statutory) Study Guide
• The relative sizes of the Earth, Sun and Moon (non-statutory) Study Guide
• The shape of Earth Study Guide
• Why the Sun appears to move across the sky Study Guide
• Why we have day and night Study Guide