Preparation and Materials Estimated Preparation Time: 30 minutes Estimated Activity Time: 45 minutes Materials Paper Pencils Calculators Modeling clay or salt dough (recipe below) Paint (optional) Poster board Computers with Internet access Student activity sheet Learning Goals/Objectives Students will • Calculate scaled sizes and distances of planets in the solar system • Construct a scale model of the solar system based on their calculations Connections to Space Odyssey During your visit to Space Odyssey, find a Museum Galaxy Guide who can take you on a tour of our solar system using a laptop and the Starry Night Pro software. While on your tour of the solar system, ask questions about solar system scale and orbital scale. Your Museum Galaxy Guide can also help you use the Orbits Explorer to learn more about orbital scale. Don’t forget to reserve your seats in our Gates Planetarium for the Cosmic Journey show for a tour of the scale of the solar system like none you’ve ever seen! Advanced Preparation 1. Copy the student activity sheet for each student in your class. 2. Prepare enough modeling clay or salt dough for your students to use in building their models. Classroom Activity 1. Teach students the mathematics needed to determine the scale factor for the planets.
a. As an example, take a classroom globe and calculate the scaled size and distance of the moon. ‘Happen’ to have a ball the right size on hand to represent the moon and place it at the appropriate distance after the calculation (yes, it really is that far away!) Diameter of Earth Diameter of Moon Moon Orbit
b. Have students convert planet diameters into inches or centimeters, depending on the measuring system they’d prefer to use when building their models. c. Ask students to choose a planet to start with. They will use this planet to determine the scale factor for all the others. For instance, if they start with Jupiter and would like to have Jupiter’s model be five inches in diameter, then they will divide Jupiter’s diameter in inches by five to determine the scale factor. Be sure to choose a planet with dimensions so that other planets won’t be too small or too huge to reproduce. d. Then students will divide each planet’s diameter in inches by the scale factor to determine how many inches each scaled planet will be in diameter. e. Students will complete similar calculations to find the scaled distances in their solar systems. 2. Give students the activity sheet and have them determine the sizes of their scaled planets. You may wish to check their math before they create their scale models. A Web site is listed below that can calculate these sizes very quickly. 3. Provide students with modeling clay or salt dough to create their scaled planets. Students may wish to paint their models if time permits. 4. Have students present their models on poster board with scaled distances labeled. Ask students to share their models in small groups.
Variations/Extensions Visit the scale model of the solar system on the campus of the University of Colorado at Boulder. Resources Web sites http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/ http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/solar_system/ Recipe Salt Dough 1 C. salt 1 C. flour 1/2 C. water Mix salt and flour in a bowl. Add water to make the dough.
Name: __________________
Determining Scale Find the sizes of the planets and their distances from the Sun. Complete the chart to find the scale sizes of your solar system model. Choose one planet to be the starting point and determine your scale factor from there.
Distance from Sun
Actual Diameter
Scale Factor
Scaled Diameter
Scaled Distance
Sun Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto Once you have calculated your scaled planet diameters, make models of the planets using clay. It’s hard to show solar system distances to scale. How can you creatively show where each ball of clay would be placed to make your model show size and distance scale? Use community landmarks to help illustrate how far apart each ball of clay would need to be placed. Turn this sheet in along with your solar system model.
