Scale of the Solar System
Use scale models, diagrams, or calculations to represent the relative sizes and distances of objects in the solar system, understanding that the distances between planets are enormously larger than the planets themselves
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Teaching Table
Set out your lesson
“Has your child ever built or looked at a scale model of the solar system? Can they explain why the planets would need to be spread across a whole playing field to be the right distance apart?”
Full guide and materials
- Activity. Use scale models, diagrams, or calculations to represent the relative sizes and distances of objects in the solar system, understanding that the distances between planets are enormously larger than the planets themselves
What to notice. Explain that if the Sun were the size of a beach ball, Earth would be a pea about 26 metres away • State that the distances between planets are much greater than the sizes of the planets themselves • Create or interpret a scale model showing both relative sizes and distances
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Has your child ever built or looked at a scale model of the solar system? Can they explain why the planets would need to be spread across a whole playing field to be the right distance apart?
Use scale models, diagrams, or calculations to represent the relative sizes and distances of objects in the solar system, understanding that the distances between planets are enormously larger than the planets themselves
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Check understanding
- Explain that if the Sun were the size of a beach ball, Earth would be a pea about 26 metres away
- State that the distances between planets are much greater than the sizes of the planets themselves
- Create or interpret a scale model showing both relative sizes and distances
“Has your child ever built or looked at a scale model of the solar system? Can they explain why the planets would need to be spread across a whole playing field to be the right distance apart?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Procedural
- Subject
- Science
- Domain
- Space Exploration
- Age range
- Ages 9–11