Space & stars

Learn: The Earth is always spinning, like a slow spinning top. When our side faces the Sun it is day. When our side turns away from the Sun it is night, and we can see the Moon and stars.

Try it: Shine a torch on a ball in a dark room and turn the ball slowly. Watch day and night move.

Learn: The Moon is a ball of rock that travels around the Earth. It does not make its own light; it shines because sunlight bounces off it. As it travels around us we see different amounts of its lit side, so it looks like a full circle, a half or a thin crescent.

Try it: Look at the Moon each night for a week and draw its shape.

Learn: Our Solar System has eight planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The first four are small and rocky. The outer four are giants made mostly of gas or ice. A memory sentence helps: My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming.

Try it: Make a planet line with eight balls or circles of different sizes, in order.

Learn: A star is a giant ball of hot glowing gas. Our Sun is a star; the others look tiny because they are very far away. People join groups of stars into pictures called constellations, like the Plough, which is part of the Great Bear.

Try it: On a clear night, with a grown-up, look north and try to find the Plough's saucepan shape.