Investigate characteristics of planets by doing various activities with your students. If in the classroom set up stations, if virtual, try these at home or demonstrate.

Planet size - gather objects and label them as the correct planet to represent the relative size of the planets to each other (and the sun)

Planet spin - Other than 2 planets, all the rest spin in the same direction. Find out why in the video in the slideshow above. If you have a stretchy piece of lycra, nylon or other stretchy smooth fabric, try to replicate the experiment with some gumballs or marbles.

Planet tilt - investigate in this activity how tilt gives our planet and some others seasons. What planets have seasons?

Orbital Period - Have students figure out their age on all of the planets. in this website.

Kinesthetic Astronomy - Have students represent the different planets. Based off of their shirt colour they can be that planet. First they must order themselves according to position/orbit around the sun. Second, they need to spin in the proper direction for that planet, and finally, they must tilt their bodies to represent the tilt for that planet.

Guess the Planet Game: Using only adjectives, describe a certain planet or dwarf planet, and have a partner or rest of the class guess which planet or dwarf planet it is! As an added challenge, only use 3 adjectives to describe your planet, none of which can be colour.

Have students investigate another object from the solar system that they want to learn more about and create an infographic on it, or report to the class on an interesting fact you found out about it. Some options are:

• Kuiper Belt

• Asteroids

• Meteors

• A specific dwarf planet

• A specific comet

• Oort Cloud