Earth and Space (updated 13th December)

Lesson: Science

Year 5 are studying Earth and Space this term.  This is a particular favourite of mine and was what originally got me interested in science.  

We have started the unit by studying the sun.  In our first lesson we tried to understand the size of the sun.  Using a tennis ball and a football, we tried to guess how large the sun would have to be.  After having a few guesses, we used a trundle wheel to measure the diameter properly and got some surprising results.  

This week, Year 5 have been learning about the formation of the planets.  We began the week learning about the shape of the Earth and how our understanding has evolved over time.  We then turned our attention to the order of planets in our solar system.  We learned that people used to believe that the Earth was at the centre of the Solar System and since the invention of the telescope, we now know that all the planets orbit around the Sun.  In order to remember how the planets move, we have also made a working orrery in our books to remember that the Earth orbits the sun and that the moon orbits the Earth.

Keep checking in to see what we study next.