While watching the Planets Song (Animated Music Video), students learn about the order of planets in our solar system as well as cool facts about each planet.
This solar system activity is a Space Race game where 2nd to 5th Grade students spin, write and color the eight planets in order. Includes trivia cards, practice and answer key.
While listening to the Planets Song (MP3), students learn about the order of planets in our solar system as well as cool facts about each planet.
In this solar system sequencing planets activity, kindergarten to 5th grade students put the eight planets in order from the Sun and match their names. Answer key included.
Space flash cards with bright pictures of the sun, moon, planets and more help kindergarten to 4th grade students learn space words and facts. An answer key is included.
The Remembering Your Planets Reading Comprehension Worksheet gives 2nd graders a short story about a memory trick for the eight planets, plus questions and an answer key for confident, independent reading practice.
Blast off to the planets
Second graders learn that our solar system has eight planets that travel around the sun. They learn the order from the sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, and one cool fact about each: Jupiter is the biggest, Saturn has bright rings, and Mars looks red. They also learn that Earth is the only planet we know of with living things. The click moment is when a student can name all eight planets in order without peeking.
Space is pure wonder for second graders. These moves turn the wonder into knowledge.
A planets song is the fastest way to learn the order. Sing it every morning during the unit. Before long, kids sing it on the playground.
Why it works: words set to a repeating melody are easier to recall than the same words spoken (Wallace, 1994).
Try it withPlanets Song (Animated Music Video)SongsOpen it →Give each student a planet card and have the class line up in order from the sun. Then mix them up and try again faster.
Why it works: kids understand an idea best when they touch it, then draw it, then write it, the order the U.S. Department of Education recommends for elementary math.
Try it withSolar System Sequencing Planets ActivityActivitiesOpen it →Flash a planet card and have kids say its name and one fact. Short daily rounds help the facts stick.
Why it works: pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than rereading it, one of the strongest findings in learning research (Dunlosky and colleagues, 2013).
Try it withSpace Flash CardsFlash CardsOpen it →Shoot for the stars with these.
ActivitiesKids march around the room as planets orbiting a student sun.
Open Solar System Activity →
AssessmentsRead about the planets and answer the questions to complete your space mission.
Open Remembering Your Planets Reading Comprehension Worksheet →
SongsListen to the planets song and point to each planet on a poster as you sing.
Open Planets Song (MP3) →Teacher favorites right now: Planets Song (Animated Music Video), Solar System Activity and Planets Song (MP3).
There are eight planets in our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Songs and silly sentences work best. Try "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos," where each word starts with a planet's first letter.
In 2006, scientists decided Pluto is a dwarf planet because it is very small and shares its path around the sun with other objects.
Sing a planets song, look at the night sky together, and use fruit of different sizes to show how big each planet is.
Loved by 2 million teachers & families
Printables, songs and games for every subject, Preschool through 6th. Ready to teach today, and kids beg for more.
