When I was a student, I had a hard time memorizing planets in order. I would like to share an effective method for memorizing nine planets from Tony Buzan’s ‘Master Your Memory’ book.
First write the names of all the planets in our Solar System on a piece of paper.
Now check with the request that I have written and see if you have done it right. This is in order from the Sun:
1. Mercury 2. Venus 3. Earth 4. Mars 5. Jupiter 6. Saturn 7. Uranus 8. Neptune 9. Pluto
Tony Buzan shows that it is easy to memorize things and remember them faster if we link them to a story and visualize it. Tony Buzan with his excellent storytelling ability takes us through the following wonderful world:
Imagine that you are standing in front of Sun. See it clearly, feel its warmth and admire its orange glow. And there is this planetary thermometer, filled with that liquid metal that measures temperature: MERCURY.
The sun heats up and finally pops the thermometer. All you see are little balls of that liquid Mercury metal on the ground.
The next thing you see is this most beautiful little goddess standing next to you. What will we call it? Yes, VENUS.
So you see Venus playing with this scattered Mercury. Finally, he manages to collect one of the mercury globules. He throws it in a giant arc into the sky. And this lands in your garden with a big bang. Your garden is on planet EARTH.
Due to the big hit, he affected his next door neighbor, who has a reddened face and is about to smoke. Who is this god of war? MARCH
Mars is really furious because he is about to attack you when, approaching the scene, a giant appears. Calm Mars. He has an initial J on his forehead which stands for JUPITER.
Looking up at Jupiter, he is wearing this T-shirt with the word “SUN” stamped in gold letters. Each of these letters represents the first letter of each of the three great planets of the Solar System: SATURN, URANUS and NEPTUNE.
Sitting on Jupiter’s head is this barking dog named PLUTO, laughing out loud.
Now replay this fantasy in your mind and then see how easy it is to remember!
This definitely works. I use this method of linking to history when teaching young children. They enjoy the story and, at the same time as a teacher, I feel that I am successful. You can try this method on young children in lower level school.