Next Term, Year 5 students will enjoy exploring the solar system and learning about the planets as well as the earth’s relationship to the sun, through the science unit titled ‘Space: The Final Frontier’. On Wednesday 10 March, Year 5 students enjoyed the most magnificent prelude to this unit as they participated in the educational program, 'STARlab Education'. This was an interactive experience that allowed students to observe the night sky through a temporary planetarium. This exciting opportunity involved Year 5 students stepping into the fascinating world of space, enhancing their understanding of concepts that will be further developed in upcoming Science lessons.

In particular, the following learning intentions were addressed as part of the STARlab presentation as we vowed to 'boldly go where no one has gone before!'

• What is the relationship between the earth, sun, planets and other celestial bodies in our solar system?
• How has people’s knowledge of the solar system changed over time? 
• How is knowledge about the solar system useful in our lives today and in the past?
• What makes a planet a planet?

We will continue to demonstrate the character strengths of curiosity, appreciation of beauty and a love of learning in relation to our upcoming astronomy unit, as we engage in learning that includes:

• Researching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ understanding of the night sky and its use for timekeeping purposes as evidenced in oral cultural records, petroglyphs, paintings and stone arrangements;
• Modelling the relative size of and distance between Earth, other planets in the solar system and the sun;
• Recognising the role of the sun as a provider of energy for the earth. 

Year 5 Teachers
Georgina Burrows, Caitlyn Sterry, Dean West, Genevieve Whittington