Earth Science -- Gravity: the planets, moon and space

Today we had our second earth science lesson.  LD begged to do science again and I always love that enthusiasm!

 *I read an excerpt about how the earth isn't the only place with gravity. The moon and other planets have gravity too.  We talked about how people on the moon could take much bigger steps and can jump higher than on the moon.  Then we watched Bunny Hopping on the Moon and saw how the astronaut jumped around even with very heavy gear on.

*We talked a bit more about the fact that people can jump higher on smaller the planets because there isn't as much gravitational pull on them.  Then we took turns bouncing people on the small planets and the large earth globe.

*Then the kids drew three different sized planets and showed how high someone would jump.

*We talked a little bit about how planets orbit the sun -- and I took an orange (on a string) and spun it my head and said "this is a planet being held in orbit around the sun by gravity." Then I let go and said "NO gravity!!"  The kids laughed and I did it again, but accidentally tossed the orange over the fence and into the woods!

*After that we talked quite a lot about how space has no gravity and watched a number of you tube videos. I'm not sure they had ever seen footage from the space station before.  The kids loved these!  We watched a number of videos showing life on the International Space Station.  LD especially loved Fun in Space and said "I don't ever want this to be done!" But they also laughed a lot watching the frog and cat trying to get their bearings in space.