Earth and Space

#TheCompleteSeries6lessons

The printable resources for each lesson provide your class with the opportunity for independent and group work to develop their working scientifically skills within this fascinating topic, such as making detailed observations of shadows throughout the day when investigating the Sun's apparent movement across the sky.

The differentiated activity ideas and worksheets provided in this six-lesson Earth and Space KS2 planning pack mean your class will effectively demonstrate their understanding of this Science topic in many different ways such as model building, report writing, explanation texts and diagrams.

#Lesson1EarthSunandMoon

Teach your Year 5 class about the movement of the three main celestial bodies using this complete Sun, Earth and Moon KS2 lesson pack. Using the detailed and engaging lesson slides, you can help your class recognise and describe Earth, the Sun and Moon as spherical bodies and discuss their size in relation to one another.

The included lesson plan provides you with great, active ideas to demonstrate these celestial bodies' movement around each other and different opportunities for the children to use scientific vocabulary such as orbit, spherical, celestial, etc.

The printable resources that are included in this lesson pack provide you with everything you need to engage, support and extend your class in their independent work.

#Lesson2DayandNight

This lesson investigates Earth's rotation and the effects that this has on the planet. This day and night KS2 lesson pack explores how day and night are created and how different parts of the planet can experience day and night simultaneously. The lesson slides help to explain to your Year 5 class in a simple and concise way how a 24-hour-long rotation of Earth results in some parts being lit by the Sun and others being in shadow.

The Day and Night KS2 worksheets provided in this lesson pack offer your class the opportunity to conduct an investigation using sundials they have created and make detailed observations of their results. This will allow them to explain the apparent movement of the Sun across the sky, using their observations and scientific vocabulary.

Alternatively, have your Year 5 class investigate time zones around the world and why they are necessary using the internet and the supporting resources.

#Lesson3Seasons

This Seasons KS2 lesson pack provides you with the lesson plan, activity ideas, lesson slides and printable resources you'll need in order to teach your Year 5 class about how seasons are formed. The lesson focuses on Earth's axis and how it is tilted.

Challenge your class to investigate the differences between the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere's seasonal changes during Earth's orbit. Using the differentiated printable activities, your class will be supported as they identify the season in the Northern Hemisphere based on Earth's location in its orbit and explain how they know.

Alternatively, the children can undertake an investigation of average day length in different parts of the world, working scientifically to identify patterns and trends in the data given to them for the UK, South Africa and Ecuador.

#Lesson4PhasesoftheMoon

Use this complete Phases of the Moon KS2 lesson pack to teach your Year 5 class about how we see different amounts of the Moon's lit surface at different points in the lunar month.

The lesson slides will guide your class through identifying and naming the eight different phases of the Moon and will help them correctly match and order the phases in their independent work. Using the included printable resources to extend and support them, your KS2 class will create a spinning model and/or discuss in detail how they are able to identify each phase of the Moon.

#Lesson5GeocentricvsHeliocentric

This lesson focuses on the theories that were made about the structure of our solar system throughout the centuries.

This Copernicus KS2 lesson will challenge your class to explore and discuss the main differences between geocentric vs heliocentric models of the universe and the astronomers who proposed them. They will compare the two models and discuss how the ideas changed and developed into the model we use today.

#Lesson6TheSolarSystem

This solar system KS2 lesson pack provides you with detailed lesson slides which inspire rich discussions with your class about the celestial objects within our solar system.

The lesson focuses on the planets within our solar system, but also looks at other objects, including dwarf planets, asteroids and comets, and satellites (both natural and man-made). The included printable resources and activity ideas will inspire your Year 5 class to create their own solar system project, either as a model or fact book.

Free Overview (Medium-Term Plan)

Download a free overview to support your teaching of this scheme of work.

Free Assessment Grid

Download a free, editable assessment grid to support your teaching of this scheme of work.

Curriculum Objectives covered

• recording data and results of increasing complexity using scientific diagrams and labels, classification keys, tables, scatter graphs, bar and line graphs

• describe the movement of the Earth, and other planets, relative to the Sun in the solar system
• describe the movement of the Moon relative to the Earth
• describe the Sun, Earth and Moon as approximately spherical bodies
• use the idea of the Earth’s rotation to explain day and night and the apparent movement of the sun across the sky