NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  Unit: Earth and Space Science --
  Year of the Solar System

  Grade Levels: 7-9

  Connection To Curriculum:
  Science, Mathematics
  and Technology

  Teacher Prep Time: 3 hours

  Lesson Time Needed: 3 hours

  Complexity: Moderate

  Keywords: planet sizes, planet
  comparisons, Earth vs. Mars, models,
  science process, scale, orbits, solar
  system, sun, sizes

Materials:

Balloon (for the model sun)
Metric ruler
Miniature marshmallows
Poppy seeds
Mustard seeds
Circle-shaped cereal
Popcorn kernels
Dried peas
1-centimeter gum balls
Black pepper
Glue
Model Planet Cards
Voyage of Discovery Worksheet
Pins or masking tape
Pencil
Hard writing surface (to take outside)

Description
This lesson allows students to visualize the comparative sizes and distances of solar system bodies by making solar system objects to scale using common objects, walking off the distances between planets and participating in a Web-based Sun/Earth scale model activity.

Objectives
Students will:
• Demonstrate the size of the sun and the bodies of the solar system on the ten-billionth scale.
• Construct and walk the distances between the bodies of the solar system on the ten-billionth scale.
• Compare the temperature, diameter and distance to the sun with familiar things on Earth.

Lesson Guide Solar System Scale Models Lesson [76KB PDF file]

Lesson Activities and Sequence

1. Exploring Planet Sizes
   This activity looks at the sizes of the planets and takes place in the classroom. Students predict the size of Earth and Jupiter and find foods (like cereal, gum balls, etc.) that are about the size of each planet.
   Keywords: planet sizes, comparisons, Earth as a peppercorn, edible


2. Walking Planet Distances
   This activity requires the class to go outside to walk the distances between the planets.
   Keywords: planets, scale models, distances, modeling, orbits, sizes


3. Solar Pizza
   Students compare the temperature, diameter and distance to the sun with familiar things on Earth.
   Keywords: planets, sizes, planet temperatures, sun, comparing planets, distances in space

National Standards: