Gravity

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

A long time ago, a man named Sir Isaac Newton was sitting under an apple tree and was struck on the head by an apple. This knocked into his head the idea of gravity.

Gravity is the pull of a smaller object to a much larger object. We are talking planet-sized, huge. Depending on an object’s size, it will have a different level of gravity.

Think about the sun, the earth, and the moon. The sun has a much stronger pull on the earth than the earth does on the moon.

Smaller objects have less gravity. This is why things float in space and we can jump higher on the moon.

Check out this video of astronauts on the moon.

Waves at the beach are caused by the attraction between the water on the earth’s surface and the moon.

The moon pulls the water, and it bulges out toward the moon, which is why we have a high tide every 12 hours as the moon revolves around the earth. (A tide is basically a big, slow wave.)

This is why you see surfers in the water, mostly around 6 am and 6 pm. So the small pull of gravity from the moon causes little ripples in the ocean to make waves.

The next time you are at the beach, notice how the waves move, and remember: it is all because of the moon!

Watch this next video for more information about gravity.

Move to the Got It? section for even more about gravity!