The Solar System Interactive Simulation

The solar system consists of eight planets orbiting the Sun at different distances. Planets closer to the Sun orbit faster because they travel a shorter path and experience stronger gravitational pull. Kepler's third law captures this: the square of a planet's orbital period is proportional to the cube of its average distance from the Sun (T² ∝ r³). Mercury completes a year in just 88 days; Neptune takes 165 Earth years. Students can change animation speed and selected planet and compare what happens. Use it for earth science inquiry with Grades 3–5, Middle School, and High School on a projector or student device.

Standards: NGSS MS-ESS1-2, MS-ESS1-3

• How inner planets complete many orbits while outer planets complete one
• Why Mercury's year is so much shorter than Earth's year
• Kepler's third law: T² ∝ r³ (period increases steeply with distance)
• How the solar system's structure relates to how it formed from a rotating disc
• Comparing orbital speeds: which planets have been observed to change position noticeably even to the naked eye

1. 1Predict how changing animation speed will affect the relative period, then test the prediction.
2. 2Use evidence from the interactive visual to explain the result.

Questions teachers ask