Our solar system is the Sun and everything that travels around it: eight planets, their moons, and countless asteroids and comets. In the Planet Parade, Year 5 scientists learn the planets in order and what holds the whole system together.
What your child will learn
- Name the eight planets in order from the Sun
- Tell the four rocky planets from the four giant planets
- Know that gravity keeps planets and moons in orbit
- Explain why the Moon seems to change shape
Held by gravity
The Sun’s gravity pulls on every planet, keeping each one on a curved path called an orbit. The nearer a planet is to the Sun, the faster it travels and the shorter its year. Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are small and rocky; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are huge and mostly gas.
Example questions
Here are a few questions like the ones in the first quest. Can you solve them?
1. Which two planets are between the Earth and the Sun?
- Saturn and Uranus
- Mars and Jupiter
- Mars and Venus
- Mercury and Venus
Show answer
Answer: Mercury and Venus. Mercury and Venus are closer to the Sun than we are.
2. What keeps the planets travelling around the Sun?
- Rocket engines
- Magnets on each planet
- The Sun’s gravity
- Wind in space
Show answer
Answer: The Sun’s gravity. Gravity pulls each planet into a curved path.
3. Which is the third planet from the Sun?
🌍- Venus
- Mars
- Earth
- Jupiter
Show answer
Answer: Earth. Mercury, Venus, then Earth.
Tips for grown-ups
- Make up a sentence to remember the order: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
- Draw the Moon’s shape each night for a month.
- On a clear evening, look for a bright “star” that doesn’t twinkle — it may be a planet.