travel_exploreDiscovery · Gravity

🌍 Gravity

What is gravity? Simple, true gravity facts for young children, each with a fun fact, a tiny activity and a question to talk about together.

Tap a question to reveal the answer, share the fun fact, try the tiny activity, then talk about it together.

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What is gravity? Revealexpand_more

Gravity is an invisible pull that draws things toward each other, and the bigger something is, the stronger it pulls. The Earth is huge, so its gravity holds you, the oceans and the air firmly on the ground instead of letting them drift away.

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Talk about itWhat would be fun about a day with no gravity, and what would be tricky?

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Did you know?Gravity is the reason a dropped ball always falls down, never sideways or up.

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Try itJump as high as you can. The reason you always come back down is gravity pulling you toward the Earth.

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🌍🦶Why don't we float off the Earth?🌙Why does the Moon stay near the Earth?☀️Why do the planets circle the Sun?

🤖Still curious?Why do astronauts float if gravity is everywhere?arrow_forward

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Why don't we float off the Earth? Revealexpand_more

The Earth's gravity is always pulling us toward its centre, which keeps our feet on the ground no matter where we stand on the planet. Even people on the far side of the world are pulled "down" toward the middle, so nobody falls off.

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Talk about itIf you dug a hole straight through the Earth, which way would "down" be at the very bottom?

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Did you know?Because gravity pulls toward the centre, "down" points a different way for someone in Australia than it does for you.

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Try itRoll a small ball of playdough and picture everything on it being tugged toward the middle. That middle is where gravity points.

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🌍🌍What is gravity?🌙Why does the Moon stay near the Earth?☀️Why do the planets circle the Sun?

🤖Still curious?Is there gravity in space?arrow_forward

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Why does the Moon stay near the Earth? Revealexpand_more

The Earth's gravity reaches all the way out to the Moon and keeps pulling it close. The Moon is also moving sideways very fast, so instead of falling into us or flying off, it keeps circling around the Earth in a steady loop.

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Talk about itWhat would our nights be like if we had no Moon at all?

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Did you know?The Moon is slowly drifting a tiny bit farther from the Earth each year, about as fast as your fingernails grow.

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Try itSwing a soft toy on a string in a circle. Let go and it flies off. The string is a bit like the Earth's gravity holding the Moon.

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🌍🌍What is gravity?☀️Why do the planets circle the Sun?🦶Why don't we float off the Earth?

🤖Still curious?Why does the Moon take about a month to go around the Earth?arrow_forward

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Why do the planets circle the Sun? Revealexpand_more

The Sun is so enormous that its gravity reaches across the whole solar system and pulls every planet toward it. Each planet is also racing sideways, so it keeps swinging around the Sun in a giant loop instead of falling straight in.

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Talk about itIf you were a planet, would you rather be close to the warm Sun or far out in the cold?

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Did you know?The Earth is speeding around the Sun so fast that it covers the width of a whole country in about a minute.

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Try itWalk in a big circle around a lamp, keeping the same distance all the way round. You are moving like a planet around the Sun.

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🌍🌍What is gravity?🌙Why does the Moon stay near the Earth?🌍How many planets are there?

🤖Still curious?How long does each planet take to go around the Sun?arrow_forward

🌍 Gravity

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