This resource is a PowerPoint presentation lesson which includes everything you need to teach children in KS2 and KS3 about the five dwarf planets recognised by the International Astronomical Union (IAU): Pluto, Ceres, Haumea, Makemake and Eris.

This lesson will teach students to name, identify and describe each of the dwarf planets, as well as explain the differences between planets and dwarf planets. It also covers key details about the main asteroid belt and the Kuiper Belt and it explains how celestial bodies over a certain mass are rounded by their own gravity. There are information slides describing key information about each dwarf planet followed by differentiated consolidation activities to help students fully understand and remember what they have learned.

This lesson is a PowerPoint presentation complete with:
√ Learning objective
√ Success criteria
√ Starter and plenary activities
√ Assessment of relevant prior learning
√ Teaching input/ information slides
√ A variety of consolidation tasks (differentiated)
√ Application and extension activities
√ All answer slides

Learning Objective:
LO: To name, identify and describe the dwarf planets in our solar system

Success Criteria:
I can explain what a dwarf planet is.
I can name and identify the dwarf planets in our solar system.
I can describe the dwarf planets in our solar system.
I can explain why the definition of a planet was reconsidered and why the category of dwarf planet was created.

Vocabulary: Dwarf planets, Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea, Makemake, asteroid belt, Kuiper belt, gravity, mass, International Astronomical Union, solar system, sun, moons, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, distance, orbit, axis, day, year, temperature, spacecraft, atmosphere, iron, core, dense, surface, clockwise, anticlockwise, collision, diameter, pressure, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, helium, methane, NASA, Dawn, hostile, conditions, rings, gravity, molten, mantle, crater, rotation, composition, comets, asteroids, dust, ice, gravitational influence, neighbourhood, orbital path, ecliptic, Sagittarius A-star, the Milky Way, diameter, spherical, star, celestial, astronomer, debris, Clyde Tombaugh, astronomical unit, Charon, Nix, Styx, Hydra, Kerberos, tidally locked, Giuseppe Piazzi, Vesta, terrestrial, crater, Hi’iaka, Namaka, equator, poles, Dysnomia

Consolidation tasks: match ups, question and answer tasks, fill in the blanks, true or false tasks, multiple choice questions, word select activities, writing tasks, quiz creator activity, sorting and labeling tasks, categorising tasks etc.

This lesson is also suitable for being delivered remotely through online learning with some slight adaptations. It could combine very well with platforms such as Pear Deck.