Matched to MS-ESS1-1 (the Earth-Sun-Moon system: phases, eclipses, seasons), MS-ESS1-2 and MS-PS2-4 (gravity) and MS-ESS1-3 (scale properties of objects in the solar system).
Curriculum links last reviewed November 2026.
Every upcoming eclipse, and how much of the Sun will be covered where you are.
use a model of the Earth-Sun-Moon system to explain solar and lunar eclipses.
Find the next eclipse you could see from home. Model it with a lamp, a globe and a tennis ball.
A live 3D Moon, lit the way it is right now.
explain the cycle of lunar phases with the Moon's orbit around Earth.
Compare the globe with a lamp-and-ball model of today's phase. Where is the Sun in each?
How far each spacecraft is, and how long its signal takes to reach us.
use real distances to build a scale model of the solar system.
Voyager 1 reaches one light-day from Earth on November 18, 2026. If the Sun-Earth distance is 1 inch, how far away is Voyager?
Real-time 3D globes of the Moon, Mars and the Sun.
argue from evidence that gravity depends on mass, and explain that gravity keeps the Moon in orbit around Earth and Mars in orbit around the Sun.
A 100 lb student would weigh about 17 lb on the Moon and 38 lb on Mars. Mars has only about a tenth of Earth's mass, so why not 10 lb? (Hint: Mars is smaller, so you stand closer to its center.) Then spin each globe: what keeps each one in its orbit?
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.
NGSS codes are shown as performance expectations, for example MS-ESS1-1.
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/us/middle
Orbital Radar. (2026, November 4). Middle school: the Earth, Moon and solar system. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://orbitalradar.com/schools/us/middle
“Middle school: the Earth, Moon and solar system.” Orbital Radar, 4 Nov. 2026, orbitalradar.com/schools/us/middle. Accessed 4 Nov. 2026.
Orbital Radar (2026) Middle school: the Earth, Moon and solar system. Available at: https://orbitalradar.com/schools/us/middle (Accessed: 4 November 2026).
Orbital Radar. “Middle school: the Earth, Moon and solar system.” Last modified November 4, 2026. https://orbitalradar.com/schools/us/middle.
@misc{orbitalradar_schools_us_middle,
author = {{Orbital Radar}},
title = {Middle school: the Earth, Moon and solar system},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
howpublished = {\url{https://orbitalradar.com/schools/us/middle}},
url = {https://orbitalradar.com/schools/us/middle},
urldate = {2026-11-04},
note = {Accessed 2026-11-04}
}TY - ELEC AU - Orbital Radar, TI - Middle school: the Earth, Moon and solar system PY - 2026 DA - 2026/11/04 PB - Orbital Radar UR - https://orbitalradar.com/schools/us/middle Y2 - 2026/11/04 LA - en-US ER -
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