Hello everyone.

It's great to have you here with me today.

I'm Mrs. Horan, and I'm really looking forward to exploring this lesson with you.

Together we are going to be learning all about the Sun.

Today's lesson is part of the Earth, Sun, and Moon unit.

This lesson is called "More about the Sun," and we will be learning about what the Sun is and how we can find out information about the Sun.

The outcome for our learning today is that you will be able to use a range of secondary sources to research about the Sun.

Today's lesson builds on what you already know about the shape and relative size of objects in space, and, as part of our big learning question, how does the Earth fit into the universe? These are the keywords that we're going to be using today: Sun, solar system, research, and secondary sources.

Here are some explanations of the keywords.

If we need to, I'll explain these words as we go through the lesson, so we don't need to look too closely at this now.

This slide is just a helpful reminder that you might want to come back to later if you aren't sure about anything and need a quick check.

This is our lesson outline for today.

As you can see, the lesson is split into two parts.

Let's get stuck in with the first part of our lesson.

What is the Sun? Jacob and Izzy are having a disagreement about the Sun.

Take a look at each of their ideas, and think about who you agree with and why.

Jacob says, "I think the Sun is a star." Izzy says she doesn't agree because the stars look different to the Sun.

Who do you agree with? You might want to pause the video here to have a think and discuss your ideas with a partner.

Jacob is right because stars are huge glowing balls of gas which have planets travelling around them.

Our Sun is also a huge glowing ball of gas with planets travelling around it, so it is a star.

So the Sun is a very bright, very hot ball of gas, which is at the centre of our solar system.

It doesn't move around within our solar system, and stays in the same place.

It is a star, just like the ones we see in the sky at night.

You're probably thinking that our Sun looks completely different to the stars.

It even looks a different colour.

Well, it looks different to us because it is much closer to Earth than the other stars.

Much, much closer in fact.

We'll take a look at just how much closer in a moment, but, for now, let's do a quick check for understanding.

What is the Sun? Is it a, A star; b, A planet; or c, A moon? That's right.

The Sun is a star just like the others we see in the sky at night.

Next question.

What is the Sun made of? Is it: a, Rock; b, Gas; or c, Magma? Great.

The Sun is made of gas.

Let's get to grips with some of these distances in space then.

The Sun is approximately, or about, 150 million kilometres away from Earth.

That's quite a difficult distance to imagine because it's so far, so it might help to think about it like this.

If you wanted to travel to the Sun in an aeroplane, it would take you 19 years! If you were travelling in a car at the speed you can do on the motorway, it would take you 176 years.

So no one would argue that the Sun is very far away, but it is still the closest star to Earth by a long way.

After the Sun, our next closest star, called Proxima Centauri, is around 40 trillion kilometres away.

So, if we were trying to get to this star in a car, it would take more than 48 million years to get there.

So 176 years to get to the Sun versus 48 million years to get to Proxima Centauri, you have to agree the Sun is much closer than the other stars.

This explains why the Sun looks so different to us and so much bigger.

We just have a closer, better view of it.

What do you think life would be like on Earth if there was no Sun? The Sun is the primary source of heat and light on Earth.

This means that it is the main source of heat and light.

It is very hot and bright.

This is why it's not safe to look directly at the Sun because it is so bright it can damage our eyes.

Without the Sun, no living things could survive here.

Plants need light to grow, and, without light, all plants would die.

Animals need plants to eat, so, without plants, all the animals, including humans, would die too.

Even if we could find a way of getting food, it would be much too cold For most living things to survive.

The Sun is incredibly hot, much hotter than anywhere on the Earth's surface.

Let's see if we can get an idea of just how hot it is.

Human body temperature is around 37 degrees Celsius.

Water boils at around a 100 degrees Celsius.

This is hot enough to burn us.

That's why we can't touch water that has just boiled.

So what temperature do you think the surface of the Sun is? The surface of the Sun is 5,505 degrees Celsius.

Was that close to what you thought? This temperature is much too hot for any living thing to survive there.

Let's see how we're doing with another check for understanding.

What is the main source of all heat and light on Earth? Is it a, The Sun; b, The Moon; or c, Other stars? Great, the Sun is the main source of all heat and light on Earth.

Onto our next question.

What is the temperature on the surface of the Sun? Is it: a, 55 degrees Celsius; b, 505 degrees Celsius; or c, 5,505 degrees Celsius? The temperature on the surface of the Sun is 5,505 degrees Celsius, far too hot for any living thing to survive there.

Time for our first practise task today, Andeep has an idea about the Sun.

Your job is to decide whether you agree with Andeep or not.

He says, "Humans have walked on the Moon, "and scientists are working on putting astronauts on Mars.

"I think one day humans will be able to walk on the Sun." Do you agree? Have a think, then talk to a partner and explain why.

Pause the video here to have your discussion, and come back when you're finished.

How did you do? Here are some ideas.

Humans would not be able to walk on the surface of the Sun for a few different reasons.

You might have said you do not agree because the surface of the Sun is too hot for humans to survive.

Or you might have thought that humans wouldn't be able to walk on the Sun because it is made of gas and so doesn't have a solid surface to stand on.

Maybe you even thought about how long it would take for humans to get to the Sun, or maybe you had some other ideas.

Let's move on to the second part of our learning today.

How can we learn about the Sun? Because the Sun is so very hot, it can be quite difficult for scientists to find out more about it.

Think about it.

It is far too hot for us to visit the Sun or even to get very close.

It is so hot that even metal would melt if it got close by, so we cannot send scientific equipment to the surface of the Sun to gather information for us either, as we have done with the Moon and Mars.

It is not even safe to look at the Sun from Earth because it is so bright that it can damage our eyes.

Even with sunglasses on, we must never look directly at the Sun because, even through shades, it can cause permanent damage to our eyes.

So how can we find out more about it? Scientists have developed special telescopes that allow them to observe the Sun safely, some of which are currently in space, taking photographs or measurements of the Sun right now.

In this picture, you can see the Hubble Telescope which was launched into space by NASA in 1990.

It's about as long and as large as a bus and weighs as much as two elephants.

Much like us, it cannot look at the Sun directly without being damaged, so it uses reflective light to make measurements of the Sun and its light.

We, unfortunately, don't have access to equipment like this ourselves today, but we can find out about the Sun by carrying out research using secondary sources.

Research is one of our key keywords today.

Carrying out research into something means to find out about it or to investigate it carefully.

Secondary sources is also part of our keywords list today.

So, secondary sources are those which have been gathered by someone else using information scientists have found when carrying out inquiries.

We can use information books, the internet, or speak to an expert to find out more.

These are all types of secondary sources.

Which kind of secondary source do you think you would find the most useful? Would you prefer to read something to learn more or watch a video, or maybe you think you'd prefer to speak to an expert? Let's have a check-in on our understanding so far.

Take a look at this statement, and decide whether you think it's true or false.

"It is not safe to look directly at the Sun." That statement is true.

It is not safe to look directly at the Sun.

Now, can you justify your answer? Is it true because the Sun is so bright that looking at it can damage our eyes? Or is it true because we might become distracted while looking at the sun? Well done.

It is not safe to look directly at the Sun because the Sun is so bright that looking at it can damage our eyes.

Now, can you use the words at the bottom of the slide to complete the sentences? Scientists can find out more about the Sun by looking at images and measurements taken by specially developed.

And we can find out more about the Sun today by carrying out.

using.

You might want to pause the video here to have a good look at those words, and work out where they best fit.

Let's see how we did.

Scientists can find out more about the Sun by looking at images and measurements taken by specially developed telescopes, and we can find out more about the Sun today by carrying out research using secondary sources.

Let's have a go at another practise task now to exercise our research skills.

Your job is to carry out some research, using secondary sources, to find out more about the Sun.

You could find out the temperature at the core of the Sun, what gases it's made up of, how old the Sun is, what sunspots are, how long it takes light from the Sun to reach Earth, or anything else you're interested in.

You can use any of the types of secondary sources that we have talked about today, including books, the internet, or even talking to an expert.

Pause the video now, and go and carry out your research.

Welcome back.

How did you do? Did you find out anything really interesting? Did you learn anything surprising while you were doing your research? Here is some information I found.

The core temperature of the Sun is around 15 million degrees Celsius.

So we learned earlier that the temperature on the surface is 5,505 degrees Celsius, but, at the core or centre of the sun, it is much, much hotter.

Hydrogen and helium are the main gases that make up the Sun.

There is also some carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen.

All of these gases can be found on Earth too but in smaller amounts.

The Sun is around 4.

6 billion years old.

Sunspots are strong magnetic fields on the surface of the Sun.

They're so strong they can even affect the weather and radio signals on Earth.

And it takes around eight minutes and 20 seconds for light from the Sun to reach Earth.

Light travels incredibly quickly, but it has such a long way to get to us from the Sun, it takes a little while.

We have come to the end of our lesson.

Let's summarise our key learning from today.

The Sun is a bright hot ball of gas at the centre of our solar system.

It is the closest star to Earth and the primary source of our heat and light.

The surface of the Sun is around 5,505 degrees Celsius.

We can find out more about the Sun by carrying out research using secondary sources.

Thank you so much for joining me today everyone.

I really enjoyed learning about the Sun with you, and thank you for your hard work and diligent research skills.

See you again next time.