Year 5 Autumn Term Topic

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Read...
Look out for these books in your classroom, in the hall or at Brierfield Library!

Key vocabulary...

atmosphere
axis
gas giant
gravity
International Space Station
orbit
rotation
Solar System
spherical body
terrestrial planets

Fascinating facts...

  • The Solar System is believed to have formed around 4.6 billion years ago.

  • Pluto was reclassified as a Dwarf Plant in 2006.

  • The Sun is a star at the centre of our solar system and that it has eight planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

  • The first time a human touched the Moon was in 1969 when Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon. 

  • Space is completely silent because there is no atmosphere.  This means that there is no way for the sound to travel in the vacuum of space.

  • Astronauts use radios to communicate in space because radio waves can be sent and received.
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  • The Sun is so big that the Earth could fit inside it 1.3 million times over.

Explore...

Nasa Space Place has loads of fun online games and activities.
BBC Bitesize has loads of videos, games and quizzes about Earth and Space.
The European Space Agency have a kids website packed with games and information.

Visit...

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National Space Centre - Leicester

Do...

  • Have a go at making this cool orbiting planets model.

  • Use a cardboard tube to make a rocket or paper plate to make an alien spaceship.  What can you create using things you can find at home.

  • Design a space buggy suitable for exploring a planet of your choice.  How will you make it suitable for that environment?

In school...
Class Novel - Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Class Book - The International Space Station by Clive Gifford
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Trip - Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre - Macclesfield