← Solar System Scale Model - Measurement & Proportions Activity
Flashcards
Solar System Scale Model - Measurement & Proportions Activity
Generated from the original open resource by NASA Mars Education Program. Built only from the resource — nothing invented. Free, no login.
Solar System Scale Model - Measurement & Proportions Activity
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| Astronomical Unit (AU) | A standard measurement used within the solar system; Earth is 1 AU from the Sun |
| Model | A simulation that helps explain natural and human-made systems and shows possible flaws |
| Planet | A sphere moving in orbit around a star (e.g., Earth moving around the sun) |
| Prediction | The use of knowledge to identify and explain observations or changes in advance |
| Relationship | The connection among and between objects |
| Scale | A measurement that will represent a standard measurement for comparison among objects |
| Solar System | Our solar system has 8 planets moving in orbit around the sun, along with dwarf planets such as Pluto, comets, asteroids, and moons |
| System | An organized group of related objects or components that form a whole |
| Solar System Bead Model | An activity where students use string and 11 colored beads to model the relative distances of planets from the Sun |
| What color bead represents the Sun? | Yellow |
| What color bead represents Earth? | Clear Blue |
| What color bead represents Pluto? | Brown (representing a dwarf planet) |
| What does the black bead represent? | The Asteroid Belt |
| Farmer's Market Solar System | A class demo using fruits, nuts, and peppercorns (like honeydew, cantaloupe, lemon, lime, grapes, macadamia nut, peppercorns) to model relative planet sizes |
| Why use a car-travel comparison in this lesson? | To help students understand relative distance; e.g., driving to the Sun at highway speed would take about 163 years, and to Pluto about 6,357 years |
| Solar System Predictions Worksheet | Handout (A) where students draw their predictions of relative distances between planets before learning the actual scale |
| Planet Bead Calculations Worksheet | Handout (C) where older students convert AU distances into centimeters to build the accurate bead model |
| Purpose of the Engage step | Students make predictions about distances between planets by drawing them to scale on paper |
| Purpose of the Elaborate step | Students use fruits/nuts/peppercorns to predict and compare relative sizes of the planets |
| Purpose of the Evaluate step | Students reflect on how their initial predictions compared to what they learned, reinforcing the scientific process |
Original licensed under Public Domain. This teaching material is provided free by OER.ai.