Astronomy, Maths or Physics Activity - Scaling the size of the solar system

Link to Scaling the size of the solar system activity

A 'scale model' of something is a replica, either larger or smaller than the actual object, where all the parts of the object have the same proportionalities in size. So if you wanted to make a scale model of a house, if the doors are twice as tall as the windows, then in the model the small doors would have to be twice as tall as the small windows.

The solar system is SO large that it is very difficult for both teachers and students to comprehend - we don't know what millions or billions of kilometers look like between the planets and sun. But to gain some appreciation for how vast our solar system is, we can have students figure out how to make a scale model of the solar system.

This lesson walks through how to get the proportionalities between the distances from planet to planet, based on the size of the sun. By choosing some small ball or rock as the sun, and measuring how wide the ball or rock is with any type of ruler, students can determine the proper ratios of distances between planets using the sun's diameter as a scale. You will need to do this outside, because students will need to measure out dozens of meters for the outer planets! But this type of activity allows everyone to begin to have some insight about the relative distances from planet to planet; and this process of scaling can be used any time a teacher or student wants to understand the relative sizes or positions of any object or system, as well as using scales to make accurate maps. Scaling is also good math practice for converting between different units, such as centimeters to meters to kilometers; it is all about fractions, ratios and proportions.

Have fun with the Scaling the size of the solar system lesson!