Orbits (Physics)

Topics: physics, gravity, orbits, initial velocity

Grades: 6-8

Standards: NGSS MS-PS2-4

Duration to complete: 10-15 minutes

Learning outcome: Students will learn that getting an object to orbit Earth depends on that object’s initial velocity and distance from Earth’s center. Students will experiment with these two variables and understand how these values affect an object’s trajectory in space.

Intro for students: Earth orbits the sun. The moon orbits Earth. And a pig can too! But achieving orbit isn’t so easy. Play with orbital velocity and distance to place our dear pig into a perfectly circular orbit around our planet.