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Activity

Pocket Solar System

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet
This Pocket Solar System activity also includes:

How in the world can something as big as the solar system possibly fit in your pocket? Complete this simple modeling activity and find out, as young scientists gain an appreciation for the incredible scale of outer space.

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CCSS: Adaptable
Concepts
the solar system, the sun, outer space, inner planets, outer planets, planets, astronomy, scale models, planet earth, jupiter, saturn, mars, venus, mercury, neptune, uranus, asteroids, the asteroid belt, pluto
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Additional Tags
science
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Instructional Ideas
  • Complete this activity during an astronomy unit on the solar system in the upper-elementary and middle school grade levels
  • Have students label their models with the distances listed in the provided table
  • After completing their models, have students discuss their work in small groups, focusing on anything interesting or surprising they notice about the solar system
Pros
  • Provides a clear procedure for creating a scale model of the solar system
  • Includes a table that lists the distances between the sun, planets, and other objects in the solar system
  • Offers a series of questions to discuss after completing the model
Cons
  • None