The Sun, Earth and Moon in Year 7 (eclipses, seasons and tides) with forces and gravity, and energy in Year 8.
Curriculum links last reviewed November 2026.
A live 3D Moon, lit the way it is right now.
model the Moon's phases with the positions of the Earth, Moon and Sun, and explain why the cycle repeats about every 29.5 days.
Show today's Moon on the globe. In a dark room, use a lamp as the Sun and hold a ball at arm's length as the Moon, then turn slowly: watch the lit part change. In Australia a waxing Moon is lit on the left. Start the Moon diary to test the model for a week.
Every upcoming eclipse, and how much of the Sun will be covered from your town.
explain how a total solar eclipse happens, using the 22 July 2028 eclipse over Australia.
Find the 22 July 2028 eclipse on the tracker: it will be total over Sydney. Model it with a lamp, a globe and a small ball: where does the Moon's shadow fall? Pick your town to see how much of the Sun will be covered there.
A live 3D Moon, lit the way it is right now.
explain how the Moon and the Sun cause tides, and predict whether this week's tides are spring or neap tides.
Check today's phase on the Moon globe. Spring tides (the biggest range) come near new and full Moon, and neap tides (the smallest) near the quarter Moons. Predict this week's tides, then check a tide chart for your nearest beach.
Where the ISS is right now, and how fast it is going.
use the shape of the day and night sides of the Earth to explain the seasons.
Look at the edge of the night side on the tracker. Is the South Pole in daylight or in darkness today? Which hemisphere is having summer? Explain how the Earth's tilt, not its distance from the Sun, causes the seasons.
Real-time 3D globes of the Moon, Mars and the Sun.
calculate weight from mass with W = mg, and compare weights on the Earth, the Moon and Mars.
A 50 kg student weighs about 490 N on the Earth (g = 9.8 N/kg). Work out their weight on the Moon (1.6 N/kg) and on Mars (3.7 N/kg). Then use the worksheet to find how strong gravity is at the space station's height today.
Every tracked satellite in orbit, moving live.
explain that gravity is an unbalanced force that bends a satellite's path into an orbit.
Watch the satellites move on the globe. Why don't they fly off into space or fall down? Throw a ball: it curves to the ground. Imagine throwing it so fast that the ground curves away as fast as it falls. Use the worksheet to work out how long the space station takes to go round.
Every upcoming rocket launch, and when it lifts off.
describe the energy changes in a rocket launch, from chemical energy in the fuel to kinetic and gravitational potential energy.
Find the next launch on the schedule and where its rocket is going. Draw an energy flow diagram for the launch: chemical energy in the fuel becomes heat, sound, kinetic energy and gravitational potential energy. Which of these does the rocket actually need?
Every upcoming eclipse, and how much of the Sun will be covered from your town.
explain how new evidence and better measurements changed our ability to predict eclipses.
Long ago, astronomers could predict roughly when an eclipse might happen. Today the tracker shows each eclipse's path years ahead, to the minute. List what changed: measurements of the Moon's orbit, telescopes, clocks and computers. Which change mattered most?
These are our suggestions for where each tool fits. Always preview a page before using it with a class: some tools show ads, these school pages do not.
Australian Curriculum codes are content descriptions, for example AC9S7U03. NSW syllabus outcomes are a second tag, for example SC4-OTU-01. Victoria and Western Australia have their own codes: the activities still fit.
© Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) 2010 to present, unless otherwise indicated. This material was downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website (Website) (accessed 4 November 2026) and was modified. The material is licensed under CC BY 4.0 Attribution 4.0 International Deed. Version updates are tracked in the ‘Curriculum version history’ section on the 'About the Australian Curriculum' page of the Australian Curriculum website. ACARA does not endorse any product that uses the Australian Curriculum or make any representations as to the quality of such products. Any product that uses material published on this website should not be taken to be affiliated with ACARA or have the sponsorship or approval of ACARA. It is up to each person to make their own assessment of the product, taking into account matters including, but not limited to, the version number and the degree to which the materials align with the content descriptions and achievement standards (where relevant). Where there is a claim of alignment, it is important to check that the materials align with the content descriptions and achievement standards (endorsed by all education Ministers), not the elaborations (examples provided by ACARA).
NSW syllabus outcome codes © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales. The cards use the codes only, with our own descriptions.
Know a better fit for your class, or a topic we have missed? Tell us and we will add it.
Share this page with one link: orbitalradar.com/schools/au/years-7-8
Orbital Radar. (2026, November 4). Years 7 and 8: Sun, Earth and Moon. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://orbitalradar.com/schools/au/years-7-8
“Years 7 and 8: Sun, Earth and Moon.” Orbital Radar, 4 Nov. 2026, orbitalradar.com/schools/au/years-7-8. Accessed 5 Nov. 2026.
Orbital Radar (2026) Years 7 and 8: Sun, Earth and Moon. Available at: https://orbitalradar.com/schools/au/years-7-8 (Accessed: 5 November 2026).
Orbital Radar. “Years 7 and 8: Sun, Earth and Moon.” Last modified November 4, 2026. https://orbitalradar.com/schools/au/years-7-8.
@misc{orbitalradar_schools_au_years_7_8,
author = {{Orbital Radar}},
title = {Years 7 and 8: Sun, Earth and Moon},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
howpublished = {\url{https://orbitalradar.com/schools/au/years-7-8}},
url = {https://orbitalradar.com/schools/au/years-7-8},
urldate = {2026-11-05},
note = {Accessed 2026-11-05}
}TY - ELEC AU - Orbital Radar, TI - Years 7 and 8: Sun, Earth and Moon PY - 2026 DA - 2026/11/04 PB - Orbital Radar UR - https://orbitalradar.com/schools/au/years-7-8 Y2 - 2026/11/05 LA - en-AU ER -
Live figures change, so keep the date you accessed the page. How to cite Orbital Radar