4^th grade hands-on learning in action! A parachute was used to simulate our solar system, with various balls representing the planets. Students observed that with no movement of the "planets", they were all "sucked in" by the gravity of the "sun". A ball at the end of a rope demonstrate the motion of the planets in orbit around the sun, at one point letting go to demonstrated that without gravity, our planets would continue moving outward away from the sun indefinitely. Students definitely won’t forget this fun and engaging lesson!