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6th grade · Science · Unit 2 of 10

Solar System Tour

The Sun, planets, moons, asteroids, comets, the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud, and gravity.

What your child practices

Practices the properties, locations and movements of objects in the solar system (the Sun, planets, moons, meteors, asteroids, comets, the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud), how gravity governs their motion, and what makes Earth able to support life.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 6.3; 6.4 · the planets, and gravity holding objects in orbit in the solar system

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Gravity keeps the planets in orbit around the Sun. Planets closer to the Sun orbit faster.
  2. Asteroids are rocky; comets are icy. A meteorite is a space rock that reaches Earth's surface.
  3. The Kuiper belt and the far-off Oort cloud hold icy objects.
  4. Earth's atmosphere gives oxygen and blocks harmful radiation.

Example: Which orbits the Sun faster: Venus or Jupiter? Venus is much closer to the Sun. Closer planets orbit faster. Answer: Venus

Solar System Tour in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 2 of 10 in 6th grade Science, after Our Solar System and before Stars, Galaxies & the Universe.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which feature of Earth is most important for life as we know it?

    • A thick carbon dioxide atmosphere
    • Rings
    • Many moons
    • Liquid water

  2. Question 2

    Most asteroids orbit the Sun between…

    • Mars and Jupiter
    • Mercury and the Sun
    • Neptune and the Oort cloud
    • Earth and Venus

  3. Question 3

    The outer planets are…

    • inside the asteroid belt
    • stars
    • small and rocky
    • gas and ice giants

  4. Question 4

    The Kuiper belt is a region of icy objects beyond…

    • Mercury
    • Earth
    • Neptune
    • Mars

  5. Question 5

    Earth's atmosphere helps life by…

    • providing oxygen and blocking harmful radiation
    • making Earth airless
    • stopping all sunlight
    • keeping water frozen

  6. Question 6

    Why don't Mars and Mercury have liquid water lakes today?

    • Mars is too cold with thin air; Mercury is too hot with no air
    • Both are gas planets
    • Both are too far from the Sun
    • Both are covered in oceans

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