Level 1: Up and down

Gravity and orbits · level 1 of 8 · rough age 5-6 (a guide for parents; anyone can start anywhere)

Everything you let go of falls down. In this level you find out what "down" means on a round planet, test whether heavy things fall faster than light ones, throw and catch, and see how high you could jump on Mars. It ends with a puzzle: if everything falls, why does the Moon stay up?

Lesson	You will be able to
Why things fall down	Say that the Earth pulls things towards its middle, and that this pull is called gravity
Heavy and light	Test with two balls that heavy and light things fall together, and say why a feather is slower
Throwing and catching	Describe the curved path of a thrown ball and why it always comes back down
Round planets	Explain why "down" points to the middle of the planet, wherever you stand
Jumping on Mars	Say that Mars pulls less, so you would jump almost three times as high
The Moon goes round	Explain that the Moon is falling all the time, but moving sideways so fast that it keeps missing

Next: Level 2: Weight and pull · Gravity and orbits topic page