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Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Planets wheel: spin a planet or a dwarf planet v0.2.0

Tap, flick or press Space

13 entries

Hide a note behind a slice with a bar: cat | a small furry pet. It shows after the spin. Start a line with an emoji to draw it big. Two columns pasted from a spreadsheet work too.

After a spin

Anyone can come up again. Repeats are fine.

Who's away today?

Tap anyone who is away. Their slice is hatched and skipped today only; at midnight they are back. Nobody is deleted.

Drag the wheel round and let go to flick it. Your flick sets the show. The draw is already fair: your browser's secure random generator picks the winner before the wheel moves.

The contents travel inside the link after the # sign, which browsers never send to any server. Anyone you give the link to can read them.

Space spin, or stop sooner · R new round · M sound on or off · F full screen · Esc leave it

Your edits are saved in this browser only, and never sent anywhere. Turns and away marks never go into a link.

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The eight planets and the five dwarf planets NASA recognizes, each with a hidden note that says where it sits, for space units and quick science warm-ups.

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How to use it

  1. The wheel already holds 13 entries for “Planets wheel”. Edit, add or delete lines in the box and it redraws; your changes stay in this browser.
  2. Tap the wheel, press Space, or drag it and let go to flick it. The winner is drawn first with your browser's secure random generator; the pegs, the clicks and the big reveal only show it.
  3. Choose Fade the winner or Remove the winner to use every entry once, or Keep everyone in for repeats. “Original list” brings back the starting entries, and Print makes a paper spinner of the list.

Ideas for class

  • Three facts in thirty seconds: spin, and the class calls out three things they know about the winner before the timer runs out.
  • Line up the solar system: each student spins once and stands in order from the Sun, with the dwarf planets finding their own places.
  • Research roulette: the winner becomes the planet a pair writes a short fact card about, using the class books or a NASA page.
  • Keep only the eight planets for a younger class by deleting the dwarf planet lines, then bring them back with Original list.
  • Would you rather visit: spin twice, and the class votes on which of the two places they would rather visit, giving one reason.

Related

Questions

Is Pluto a planet on this wheel?

Pluto is on the wheel as a dwarf planet. NASA lists eight planets, and says Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union in 2006.

Which dwarf planets are on it?

Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake and Eris, the five dwarf planets NASA's planets page names. Delete their lines if your class is only studying the eight planets.

What does the hidden note say?

Each planet's note gives its place in order from the Sun, from Mercury first to Neptune eighth, and each dwarf planet's note says it is a dwarf planet. It appears under the winner when the wheel stops.

Nothing you do here is sent to us. Names, lists and settings stay in this browser. No sign-in, no ads. What each tool stores