The Solar System on a Smaller Scale
- Objective:
- To model the distances between the planets
- Activity:
- Place dots on the classroom floor or ceiling or make markings on the recess yard that show the distances between the planets of our solar system
- Materials:
- Table of planet distances (on separate enclosed paper)
- Dot stickers (or chalk for yard)
- Previous Knowledge Necessary:
- Basic aspects of the solar system
- (Nine planets and asteroid belt revolve around the sun)
- Procedure:
- Explain what an astronomical unit is. (the average distance between the sun and the Earth)
- Have the students put a large dot at one end of the room or yard to symbolize the sun. (If there is room in the yard, it would be nice to put the dot in the center of the yard and mark the planets on both sides so the children can see that the planets travel in huge ellipses.)
- Put a dot for Mercury 4 centimeters from the sun, to represent that Mercury is .4 astronomical units away from the sun. Place another dot for Venus at 7 cm. from the sun. Continue placing a dot for each planet and the asteroid belt using the table provided below. (The distances on the chart can be changed to inches or made longer or shorter if necessary to meet your needs. Also, if working outside, it may help to have a child stand on each outer planet dot so it is marked clearly for the others.
- Discuss how far apart the planets are. Show that the Jovian planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) are at much greater distances from each other than the terrestrial (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) planets. Try to have the students comprehend the vast distances in millions of kilometers or miles.
(Use this non-table list, if your browser does not render tables well.)
| Planet |
Astronomical
Units* |
Classroom
Scale (in cm) |
Millions of
Kilometers |
Millions of
Miles |
|---|
| Mercury |
0.4 |
4 |
57.9 |
36 |
| Venus |
0.7 |
7 |
108.2 |
67 |
| Earth |
1.0 |
10 |
149.6 |
93 |
| Mars |
1.5 |
15 |
227.9 |
142 |
| asteroids** |
2.8 |
28 |
418.9 |
257 |
| Jupiter |
5.2 |
52 |
778.3 |
485 |
| Saturn |
9.5 |
95 |
1,427.0 |
890 |
| Uranus |
19.2 |
192 |
2,869.6 |
1780 |
| Neptune |
30.1 |
301 |
4,496.6 |
2810 |
| Pluto |
39.5 |
395 |
5,900 |
3670 |
* An astronomical unit (AU) is a distance unit based on the average distance of the Earth from the Sun.
** The asteroid belt is a region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter in which most of the Solar System's asteroids are located.
An asteroid is a small, generally rocky, solid body orbiting the sun and ranging in diameter from a few meters to hundreds of kilometers.
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