Our Solar System

For teachers · Free

Teach the solar system in 3D.

Six lessons in the live 3D viewer for ages 9 to 14. Present one to your class on the big screen, or send pupils a link to work through it on their own devices.

See the lessons →Your classes

Two ways to teach a lesson

Every lesson works both ways. You can present it, then let pupils try it for themselves.

On the big screen

Present to the class

You drive the viewer from the front of the room. Each step sets up its own scene, with the date, the view and the labels it needs, and puts a caption on screen big enough to read from the back.

  • Your talking points and their sources in a notes drawer.
  • Ask the class: put the question up, take answers from the room, then reveal the answer and why.
  • Play and pause the clock, switch labels off, black out the screen.
  • The date in the scene, and a label saying whether the view is to scale.
  • Works with a presentation clicker.
→ PageDown Space
Next step
← PageUp
Back
R
Reveal the answer
N
Your notes
P
Play or pause the clock
L
Labels on or off
B .
Black screen
F
Full screen
Esc
Leave the lesson

On their own devices

Pupil lessons

Pupils work through the same lesson at their own pace, in a panel beside the scene, or in a sheet at the bottom of the screen on a phone.

  • Questions to answer: multiple choice, picking every right answer, working out a number, putting things in order and short written answers.
  • Answers are marked when they check them, and the explanation appears. Written answers are not marked.
  • Tasks to do in the viewer itself, such as running the clock to the right moment and pausing it or finding a planet, checked live while they work.
  • Some steps are only for pupils, so the pupil lesson goes further than the presented one.
  • Their progress and answers are saved in the browser on that device.

To see each pupil’s answers yourself, set the lesson to a class.

How a lesson runs

  1. Choose a lessonRead its plan and talking points below, and print it if you like. Each plan lists the curriculum statements the lesson supports.
  2. Present itThe lesson opens on its cover with the introduction, the first scene ready behind it. Every step sets up its own scene, so going back shows the same view again.
  3. Ask the classOn a step with a question, the next press puts it on screen, the one after reveals the answer and the explanation, and the press after that moves on.
  4. Let pupils try itShare the pupil link, or set the lesson to a class, and pupils answer the questions and do the tasks themselves.

The lessons

Six lessons, each 20 to 25 minutes to present. Every fact in a lesson comes from a source listed with it.

  • Ages 9 to 11 · 20 minutes

    Day and night

    Earth spins once a day, so every place turns into the Sun's light and out of it again.

    • England KS2
    • NGSS 5-ESS1-2

    6 steps · 4 questions · 1 pupil task

    Lesson plan Present

  • Ages 11 to 14 · 25 minutes

    Why we have seasons

    Earth's tilted axis gives each hemisphere its summer and winter, and changes how long the days are.

    • England KS3
    • NGSS MS-ESS1-1

    7 steps · 4 questions · 1 pupil task

    Lesson plan Present

  • Ages 9 to 14 · 20 minutes

    Phases of the Moon

    Half of the Moon is always lit by the Sun, and the phase is how much of that half we can see from Earth.

    • England KS2
    • NGSS MS-ESS1-1

    7 steps · 3 questions · 1 pupil task

    Lesson plan Present

  • Ages 11 to 14 · 25 minutes

    Eclipses of the Sun and Moon

    Solar eclipses happen when the Moon's shadow falls on Earth, lunar eclipses when Earth's shadow falls on the Moon, and the tilt of the Moon's orbit means they do not happen every month.

    • NGSS MS-ESS1-1
    • England KS2

    5 steps · 4 questions · 1 pupil task

    Lesson plan Present

  • Ages 11 to 14 · 20 minutes

    The scale of the Solar System

    How big the Sun and planets really are, how far apart they are, and how long sunlight takes to reach us.

    • NGSS MS-ESS1-3
    • England KS3

    6 steps · 4 questions · 1 pupil task

    Lesson plan Present

  • Ages 9 to 14 · 25 minutes

    The planets compared

    Rocky planets and giant planets, why Venus is hotter than Mercury, and how much you would weigh on Mars.

    • England KS2
    • England KS3
    • NGSS MS-ESS1-3

    6 steps · 4 questions · 1 pupil task

    Lesson plan Present

Curriculum links

Statements are quoted word for word from the official documents, each with a link to the original. A lesson lists a statement only when it can be found in the official text.

Day and night

Ages 9 to 11 · 20 minutes

England national curriculum

  • Key stage 2, year 5: Earth and space

    use the idea of the Earth’s rotation to explain day and night and the apparent movement of the sun across the sky

    Read it on gov.uk
  • Key stage 2, year 5: Earth and space (notes and guidance, non-statutory)

    Pupils should be introduced to a model of the sun and Earth that enables them to explain day and night.

    Read it on gov.uk

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

  • 5-ESS1-2

    Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky.

    Read it on nextgenscience.org

Why we have seasons

Ages 11 to 14 · 25 minutes

England national curriculum

  • Key stage 3: Physics, space physics

    the seasons and the Earth’s tilt, day length at different times of year, in different hemispheres

    Read it on gov.uk

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

  • MS-ESS1-1

    Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.

    Read it on nextgenscience.org

Phases of the Moon

Ages 9 to 14 · 20 minutes

England national curriculum

  • Key stage 2, year 5: Earth and space

    describe the movement of the moon relative to the Earth

    Read it on gov.uk

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

  • MS-ESS1-1

    Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.

    Read it on nextgenscience.org

Eclipses of the Sun and Moon

Ages 11 to 14 · 25 minutes

England national curriculum

  • Key stage 2, year 5: Earth and space

    describe the movement of the moon relative to the Earth

    Read it on gov.uk
  • Key stage 2, year 5: Earth and space (notes and guidance, non-statutory)

    Note: pupils should be warned that it is not safe to look directly at the sun, even when wearing dark glasses.

    Read it on gov.uk

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

  • MS-ESS1-1

    Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.

    Read it on nextgenscience.org

The scale of the Solar System

Ages 11 to 14 · 20 minutes

England national curriculum

  • Key stage 3: Physics, space physics

    the light year as a unit of astronomical distance

    Read it on gov.uk

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

The planets compared

Ages 9 to 14 · 25 minutes

England national curriculum

  • Key stage 2, year 5: Earth and space (notes and guidance, non-statutory)

    Pupils should learn that the sun is a star at the centre of our solar system and that it has 8 planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune (Pluto was reclassified as a ‘dwarf planet’ in 2006).

    Read it on gov.uk
  • Key stage 2, year 5: Forces

    explain that unsupported objects fall towards the Earth because of the force of gravity acting between the Earth and the falling object

    Read it on gov.uk
  • Key stage 3: Physics, space physics

    gravity force, weight = mass x gravitational field strength (g), on Earth g=10 N/kg, different on other planets and stars; gravity forces between Earth and Moon, and between Earth and sun (qualitative only)

    Read it on gov.uk

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

Classes

A class lets pupils do lessons on their own devices while you follow along. You make it with a free teacher account and choose its lessons, and pupils join with a code.

Pupils join with a code

They go to 3dsolarsystem.online/class/, type the six-character class code and pick a first name or nickname. Or you type the names in and print login cards.

No pupil accounts

No emails, no ages and no passwords. A pupil carries on from another device with a four-character login code.

Progress and answers as they happen

See who has finished what and how each pupil answered, and download it all as a spreadsheet.

No analytics for pupils

The class page and lessons opened from a class load no Google Analytics, and class data is never used for advertising.

Tidies itself away

A class is deleted 13 months after it was made, and joining closes by itself 14 days after you last changed it.

Short terms, once

Before your first class you agree to a few short terms for your school, so everyone knows how pupils’ data is kept.

Classes are in beta. They are open to a small group of teachers while we test them. Sign in on Your classes, then write to hello@polyxmedia.com from the same address and we will switch them on for you. The lessons themselves are open to everyone now.

Your classesWhere pupils joinPrivacy policy

Questions

Is it free?

Yes. The 3D viewer, the lessons, the lesson plans and classes are all free, and there is nothing to install.

Do pupils need an account?

No. A pupil opens a lesson from its link and works through it in the browser, and their progress stays in that browser. If you want to see their answers, make a class: pupils join it with the class code and a first name or nickname, and are never asked for an email address or an age.

What do pupils need?

A computer, tablet or phone with an up-to-date web browser. On a computer the lesson sits in a panel beside the scene; on a phone it is a sheet at the bottom of the screen that folds down out of the way.

Can I use a presentation clicker?

Yes. Clickers send PageDown, PageUp and B, and Present mode uses all three: PageDown moves on, PageUp goes back and B blanks the screen. On a step with a question, one press puts the question up, the next reveals the answer and the press after that moves on, so a clicker can run a whole lesson.

Which ages are the lessons for?

They are written for ages 9 to 14, and each lesson gives its own range: Day and night (9 to 11), Why we have seasons (11 to 14), Phases of the Moon (9 to 14), Eclipses of the Sun and Moon (11 to 14), The scale of the Solar System (11 to 14) and The planets compared (9 to 14).

Which curricula do they cover?

Each lesson lists the statements it supports from the national curriculum in England (key stages 2 and 3) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), quoted word for word with a link to the official document.

Where do the facts come from?

From primary sources listed with each lesson, such as NASA, the US Naval Observatory, the International Astronomical Union, NIST and Royal Museums Greenwich. Every step names the sources it relies on, numbers are rounded the way the lesson says, and where a view is not to scale the caption or the talking points say so.

Is everything to scale?

The viewer normally spreads the planets out so they are easy to see, so most views are not to scale, and Present mode shows a label saying whether the view on screen is to scale. Some steps switch to true scale, in “Eclipses of the Sun and Moon” and “The scale of the Solar System”.

What does a class keep about my pupils?

Each pupil’s first name or nickname, a login code, how far they got and their answers. You see all of it and can download it as a spreadsheet. It is never used for advertising or analytics, the class page and lessons opened from a class load no Google Analytics, and a class is deleted 13 months after it was made. The privacy policy has the details.

Can I print a lesson?

Yes. Each lesson plan prints with its steps, talking points, questions, answers and sources, and Print pupil sheet prints the questions on their own with room for the answers.

How do I start a lesson in the viewer?

Use the Present and Pupil link buttons on these pages. Or open the 3D viewer, open the Explore group in the controls panel and press Teachers.

Try one now

Every lesson opens in this browser, so you can rehearse it before the class sees it.

Present “Day and night” →Open the 3D viewer