Educator Resources for Build a Solar System
This free online science game allows students to construct their own solar systems using a simulation of suns and planets. Students can create a system that mimics our own solar system with planets stably orbiting around our Sun, or create systems from their own imagination with multiple suns. Guide students to understand that they must be careful–all objects exert gravitational forces on all others, so planets can eject each other from the system if their orbits are too close!
For more teacher resources, visit Space Science Institute
A Solar System Game Lesson Plan: Build and Learn
Grades: 3-8
In this lesson plan which is adaptable for grades 3-8, students use BrainPOP resources to define a celestial body and explain how objects orbit and rotate. Students then use online gaming tools to create a replica of our solar system.
