Matched to Space physics (weight and gravitational field strength, our Sun as a star, the light year) and Magnetism (the Earth's magnetic field).
Curriculum links last reviewed November 2026.
How far each spacecraft is, and how long its signal takes to reach us.
use the light year (and the light-day) as a unit of astronomical distance.
Voyager 1 reaches one light-day from Earth on 18 November 2026. Light travels about 300,000 km every second: how far is that in km?
Real-time 3D globes of the Moon, Mars and the Sun.
explain why their weight would be different on the Moon and on Mars (W = mg).
Pupils work out their weight on the Moon (g is about 1.6 N/kg) and on Mars (about 3.7 N/kg), then spin each globe.
A live 3D globe of our nearest star.
describe the Sun as a star, one of billions in our galaxy.
The Sun is about 109 times wider than the Earth. Pupils scale it: if the Earth were a 1 cm bead, how big would the Sun be?
Tonight's chance of seeing the northern lights, town by town.
explain that the Earth has a magnetic field, and that the aurora happens when particles from the Sun meet it near the poles.
Check tonight's forecast for your town, then for Inverness and Tromsø. Why does it change as you go north?
Inverness · Aberdeen · Edinburgh · Glasgow · Newcastle · Belfast · Manchester · London
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.
Orby's Space Academy uses US spelling.
Know a better fit for your year group, or a topic we have missed? Tell us and we will add it.
Share this page with one link: orbitalradar.com/schools/uk/ks3
Orbital Radar. (2026, November 4). Key Stage 3: space physics. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://orbitalradar.com/schools/uk/ks3
“Key Stage 3: space physics.” Orbital Radar, 4 Nov. 2026, orbitalradar.com/schools/uk/ks3. Accessed 4 Nov. 2026.
Orbital Radar (2026) Key Stage 3: space physics. Available at: https://orbitalradar.com/schools/uk/ks3 (Accessed: 4 November 2026).
Orbital Radar. “Key Stage 3: space physics.” Last modified November 4, 2026. https://orbitalradar.com/schools/uk/ks3.
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author = {{Orbital Radar}},
title = {Key Stage 3: space physics},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
howpublished = {\url{https://orbitalradar.com/schools/uk/ks3}},
url = {https://orbitalradar.com/schools/uk/ks3},
urldate = {2026-11-04},
note = {Accessed 2026-11-04}
}TY - ELEC AU - Orbital Radar, TI - Key Stage 3: space physics PY - 2026 DA - 2026/11/04 PB - Orbital Radar UR - https://orbitalradar.com/schools/uk/ks3 Y2 - 2026/11/04 LA - en-GB ER -
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