Solar Debate Comprehension Worksheet
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Solar Debate Comprehension Worksheet
The Solar System Debate
During a lunchtime science club, Sienna and Hudson prepared two models of the solar system. Sienna placed Earth in the centre, with the Sun and planets moving around it. Hudson put the Sun in the centre, with Earth and the other planets travelling around it. “From where we stand, the Sun seems to cross the sky each day,” Sienna said. “It makes sense that Earth is still and everything else moves around us.” For a long time, many people agreed with this geocentric model. The word geocentric means “Earth-centred”. It matched what people could see with their own eyes, even though appearances can be misleading. Hudson pointed to the second model. “This is the heliocentric model. Helio means ‘Sun’, so the Sun is at the centre of the solar system. Earth spins once each day, making the Sun appear to move across our sky. Earth and the other planets also orbit the Sun.” Sienna asked how anyone could be sure. Hudson explained that the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus argued for a Sun-centred model in the 1500s. Later, Galileo used a telescope to observe Jupiter’s moons. Their movement around Jupiter showed that not everything in space orbited Earth. Careful observations and mathematical calculations gave scientists stronger evidence for the heliocentric model. The students compared their models and realised that a model is useful only if it explains the evidence. Sienna still thought the geocentric model was a clever explanation for what people saw, but she agreed that Hudson’s model fitted more observations. They decided their debate was not about choosing a winner; it was about asking questions, checking evidence and being willing to revise an idea.
Check the evidence
Use details from the passage to answer these questions.
- A model with the Sun at the centre
- A model with Earth at the centre
- A model with Jupiter at the centre
- A model in which nothing moves
- True
- False
- A debate is useful only when one person wins.
- A familiar explanation is always correct.
- Questions and evidence can help people improve their explanations.
- Models should never be changed.
3 printable pages
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
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