Year 7 - Science
Our solar system
Our solar system and beyond
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Study Guides
This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit explores gravity as the force between masses, including weight calculation using gravitational field strength. It covers the relationship between Earth, the Moon, and the Sun, the concept of light years, and seasonal changes due to Earth's tilt.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to describe our solar system, including ideas about the locations, movements, sizes and distances of the different objects within our solar system.
Key Notes
- A star is an extremely large sphere of hot gas that gives out light.
- A planet is a very large sphere of rock or gas that orbits a star.
- Our solar system includes the Sun (a star) and all the objects that orbit the Sun.
- Orbiting the Sun are: 8 planets (many of which have moons), dwarf planets and smaller objects such as asteroids.
- Distances between objects in our solar system are very, very large compared to the sizes of the objects.
Vocabulary To Learn
- star: A star is an extremely large sphere of hot gas that emits light.
- planet: A planet is a very large sphere of rock or gas that orbits a star.
- dwarf planet: A dwarf planet is a large, round object that orbits a star but is not big enough to clear its orbital path of other debris.
- asteroid: An asteroid is a small, rocky object that orbits the Sun.
- solar system: Our solar system includes the Sun and all the objects in orbit around the Sun.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Stars and the planets in our solar system are intermingled, with stars between the planets.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the scientific idea in this lesson using two key points.
A star is an extremely large sphere of hot gas that gives out light. A planet is a very large sphere of rock or gas that orbits a star.
2. Define this scientific word and use it in context. 'star'
A star is an extremely large sphere of hot gas that emits light. Include the word in a full scientific explanation, not as a single label.
3. Correct this common scientific misunderstanding.
Mistake: Stars and the planets in our solar system are intermingled, with stars between the planets. Correction: Make it clear with diagrams, scaled examples and/or videos (freely available online) that 'zoom out' from Earth, that the second nearest star to Earth is 10 000 times further away from the Sun than Neptune, the most distant planet.
More Lessons In This Unit
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