Space and the solar system
The Sun, Moon and planets, day and night, and the phases of the Moon.
Lessons
Our Living Planet
Air, water, land and living things, and how each one depends on the others. Students build a sealed jar ecosystem to keep for a month and catch the water cycle in a bag on the window.
Light and Shadows
Why does my shadow follow me, and why is it so long in the morning? Young scientists chase their shadows, track the Sun across the day and test which things let light through.
Sun, Earth and Moon
Why it's breakfast time in Calgary and bedtime in Singapore, why your shadow swings round the stick, why the Moon changes shape and why some places barely have seasons. Students build models with balls and lamps, track real shadows and read real sky data from cities around the world.
Bouncing Light: Mirrors, Water and Colour
Steer a beam around a wall with mirrors, find out why a pencil looks broken in water, and split white light into the colours hiding inside it. Three hands-on lessons on reflection, refraction and colour that build on shadows and work in any climate.
The Reason for the Seasons: Tilt, Daylight and the Solstice
Is summer when Earth is closest to the Sun? Students test the idea with real 2026 orbit distances and city temperatures from both hemispheres, walk a human orbit, graph real solstice day lengths from the Arctic to Tierra del Fuego and work out why a high Sun heats more than a low one. Nothing to buy: just the printed sheets and the room.
Stars and the Night Sky
Where the stars go in the daytime, why they wheel across the sky all night and why Orion is a winter sight in Canada but a summer one in Australia. Students sort real star data, spin and orbit as human models and read a printed sky chart. No materials needed: just the printed sheets, in either hemisphere.
Our Changing Planet: Resources and Human Impact
Where the copper, cobalt, lithium, oil and sand in a phone come from and why, which energy sources refill and which do not, what real population and energy data say about people and resources, and how real towns cut their waste. Four no-materials lessons built on printed data cards, with a hopeful, evidence-first tone for Earth Day or any time.
The Solar System: Gravity, Orbits and Scale
Pace out the whole solar system across the schoolyard from real NASA distances, walk a human orbit held together by an arm of 'gravity', graph real planet years to find the pattern, and plan a mission from planet data cards. Nothing to buy: just the printed sheets and some space.
Monsoon Science: Rain, Sun and the Nón Lá
Science and English together, for English learners (CEFR A2–B1). Why is the Vietnamese nón lá shaped like a cone? Students build paper hats, test them in 'monsoon rain' and 'midday sun', and find the best shape for a rice farmer.
Online practice
- Sun warms the ground Senior Infants
- Protect from the sun Senior Infants
- Tools that block sun Senior Infants
- Rain or sun Senior Infants
- Sun high or low Senior Infants
- Sun, moon and stars First Class
- Day length in seasons First Class
- Sun pattern First Class
- Moon phases in order First Class
- Star patterns First Class
- Shadows and the sun First Class
- Seasons and weather First Class
- Seasons and sun height First Class
- Seasons and activities First Class
- Animals in each season First Class
- Read a seasons chart First Class
- Plants in each season First Class
- Measure a shadow First Class
- Shadow and sun angle First Class
- The day cycle First Class
- Earth’s water and the water cycle Fifth Class
- The Sun, the Moon and the stars Fifth Class
- Protecting water, energy and materials Fifth Class
Free tools
Moon Phase Finder
Pick any date and see the Moon's phase, how much of it is lit and when the next full and new moons are. Pairs with our Sun, Earth and Moon unit.
Solar System Scale
See the planets at true scale for size and distance, find your weight and age on each one, and work out how long light takes to reach them.
Sun and Shadow
Move through the day and the year to see where the Sun is in the sky, how long a stick's shadow is, and how many hours of daylight any latitude gets.