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6th grade · Science · Unit 6 of 9

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.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 6.E2U1.7 · the scale, properties and relationships of objects 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 Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 6 of 9 in 6th grade Science, after Seasons & Tides and before Ecosystems.

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: Arizona Department of Education

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

    A comet is made mostly of…

    • liquid water only
    • ice, dust and rock
    • gas only
    • pure iron

  2. Question 2

    The inner planets are small and…

    • rocky
    • icy giants
    • gassy
    • ringed

  3. Question 3

    A meteor is…

    • a planet
    • a star exploding
    • a moon
    • a streak of light from a space rock burning in our atmosphere

  4. Question 4

    The Kuiper belt is a region of icy objects beyond…

    • Mercury
    • Neptune
    • Earth
    • Mars

  5. Question 5

    Earth is a good distance from the Sun because it lets water stay…

    • boiling
    • gas only
    • liquid
    • frozen always

  6. Question 6

    Order these from nearest to farthest from the Sun.

    • Oort cloud, Kuiper belt, Jupiter, asteroid belt
    • Jupiter, asteroid belt, Oort cloud, Kuiper belt
    • Kuiper belt, asteroid belt, Oort cloud, Jupiter
    • Asteroid belt, Jupiter, Kuiper belt, Oort cloud

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