Earth Science — Gravity: the planets, moon and space

Today we had our second earth science lesson.  LD begged to do science again and I always love that enthusiasm! I’m still using  Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding: A Science Curriculum for K-2  (affliliate link) as the basis for some of our lessons.

*I read an excerpt about how the earth isn’t the only place with gravity. The moon and other planets have gravity too.  We talked about how people on the moon could take much bigger steps and can jump higher than on the moon.  Then we watched Bunny Hopping on the Moon and saw how the astronaut jumped around even with very heavy gear on.

*We talked a bit more about the fact that people can jump higher on smaller the planets because there isn’t as much gravitational pull on them.  Then we took turns bouncing people on the small planets and the large earth globe.

*Then the kids drew three different sized planets and showed how high someone would jump.

*We talked a little bit about how planets orbit the sun — and I took an orange (on a string) and spun it my head and said “this is a planet being held in orbit around the sun by gravity.” Then I let go and said “NO gravity!!”  The kids laughed and I did it again, but accidentally tossed the orange over the fence and into the woods!

*After that we talked quite a lot about how space has no gravity and watched a number of you tube videos. I’m not sure they had ever seen footage from the space station before.  The kids loved these!  We watched a number of videos showing life on the International Space Station.  LD especially loved Fun in Space and said “I don’t ever want this to be done!” But they also laughed a lot watching the frog and cat trying to get their bearings in space.

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links in this post are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase.

You may be interested in the posts in this series:

• Earth Science Unit — Gravity
• Earth Science — Gravity: the planets, moon and space
• Astronomy Unit: Refraction, Vacuum, Saturn’s Rings
• Astronomy Unit: Inner and Outer Planets, The Asteroid Belt
• Astronomy Unit: The Moon (Day 1)
• Astronomy Unit: The Moon (Day 2)
• Phases of the Moon Activity: Homemade Oreo Cookie Recipe (Yum!!)

You might also be interested in these related posts (we did these when my kids were older… ie. elementary):

• Earth Science Packet: Layers of the Earth, Plate Tectonics, Earthquakes, Volcanoes, 4 Types of Mountains and More!
• Earth Science Layers of the Earth Activity
• Earth Science: Plate Movement Hands-On Activiites
• Earth Science Packet: Layers of the Atmosphere
• Earth Science Activities: Earthquakes, Plate Movement and Mountain Making
• Learning about Latitude and Longitude, Using a Compass
• Earth Science: Timeline of Earth Activity – A Montessori activity that is meant to impress kids with the enormity of time on Earth.
• Earth’s Geologic Timeline  – How scientists divide Earth’s history into eons and eras
• Earth Science: Plate Movement Hands-On Activities

• How to Make a Earthquake Shake Table
• Awesome Gelatin Volcano and other Activities
• Earth Science Activities: Tissue Paper Volcano
• Free Water and Water Cycle Resources
• Topographic Maps
• The Three Types of Rocks: Sedimentary, Metamorphic, Igneous
• Free Rocks and Minerals Packet
• World Biomes Pin Map
• Preschool Geography