How can you tell they’ve got it: The Eight Planets?

If they’ve got it, you’ll see things like: List all eight planets in order from the Sun; State that Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006; Explain that the four inner planets are small and rocky while the four outer planets are large gas giants. Or just try it together: Can your child list all eight planets in order from the Sun — maybe using a memory trick like 'My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nachos'?

Science Space Exploration Ages 7–9

The Eight Planets

Your child can name the eight planets in order from the Sun. The four near the Sun are small and rocky. The four far out are huge balls of gas.

In curriculum terms

Name the eight planets in order from the Sun (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune), know that Pluto is a dwarf planet, and distinguish rocky inner planets from gas giant outer planets

Ages are typical, not deadlines — follow your child’s pace. How to help at home →

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

List all eight planets in order from the Sun
State that Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006
Explain that the four inner planets are small and rocky while the four outer planets are large gas giants

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Try this together

Can your child list all eight planets in order from the Sun — maybe using a memory trick like 'My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nachos'?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on

Our Solar Systemages 5–7Must know planets exist before listing them in order

The Sun is a starages 7–9Must know the Sun is the centre before naming planets in order from it

The Eight Planetsthis skill · ages 7–9

Unlocks

Planet Featuresages 7–9Must know the planet names before learning features of each

Scale of the Solar Systemages 9–11Must know the planets before building scale models of the solar system

Asteroids, Comets & Dwarf Planetsages 7–9Knowing planet positions helps understand where asteroids and comets are found

The Vast Scale of Spaceages 9–11Knowing the planets provides concrete context for the solar system layer of the hierarchy

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Where this fits in the official school curriculum — our best automated guess, not yet checked by a person.

Show candidate curriculum codes · 1 ACARA · 1 VIC

Australian Curriculum v9 candidate

AC9S2U01low confidenceYear 2 · Science understanding

recognise Earth is a planet in the solar system and identify patterns in the changing position of the sun, moon, planets and stars in the sky

Victorian Curriculum 2.0 codes & levels only

VC2S2U08medium confidenceScience · Foundation to Level 2 · Science Understanding strand

These are candidate alignments generated by semantic matching — machine-suggested and unreviewed (v0.1), not official or verified mappings. For official curriculum content see australiancurriculum.edu.au, curriculum.nsw.edu.au and f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Don’t rely on them for registration or compliance purposes.

Nearby on the map

Asteroids, Comets & Dwarf Planetsages 7–9 Earth's Spin & Orbitages 7–9 How Telescopes Workages 7–9 Planet Featuresages 7–9

All Space Exploration skills →