Free Science Inquiry Lab for Grades 7-10: Solar System Simulation

 Free Science Inquiry for Grades 7-10: 
PhET Solar System Simulation

We've been up to a lot of science lately! I've been trying to fill our lessons with inquiries and experiments - but the older my kids get, the tougher those lessons are to find online! So I've been making my own.😀

This lab is an inquiry using the free solar system simulator made available online by PhET. You can see that here. It's a really cool way to see the effects that certain changes could have on our own solar system by changing the mass, velocity and speed of planets or the star they revolve around. 

Want more science freebies? Take a look at my Science Printables page!

Students will start by making a few hypotheses and sharing their knowledge. Before introducing this inquiry, I highly recommend learning about the solar system, how the planets orbit each other, and how gravity, mass and velocity work together in planetary orbits. If you're teaching the 'learn as we go' model, you could use one question per day and have them experiment, then research the topics online.

The booklet then leads students through the experiment along with guiding questions - basically it asks them to think about why something might happen, then experiment to find an answer.  

You can download this free booklet by clicking on the link below. It's great for teachers, homeschoolers and online learning! Please be sure to leave my webpage on each page when you are using it, however, per my terms.

Download the Free Science Inquiry Lab Here