Pocket Solar System
Teachers Notes
This resource is modified from the NASA Education Resource Center
Objective
This resources aims to get students to visualise and discuss the distances between the planets in the Solar
System.
Materials Required
Per student:
•
•
A piece of card/paper at least 1m long, and around 5-10cm wide
Felt tip pens
Method
o
Pluto Sun On the piece of card label the Sun at one end and Pluto at the other:
o
Fold the card in half and this is where Uranus is.
Fold the card halfway between Uranus and Pluto, to give the location of Neptune.
Pluto Neptune Uranus Saturn Fold the card halfway between Saturn and the Sun, to give the location of Jupiter.
Pluto Neptune Uranus Saturn Jupiter Sun o
Pluto Fold the card halfway between Uranus and the Sun, to give the location of Saturn.
Sun o
Neptune Uranus Sun o
Pluto Uranus Sun o
Fold the card halfway between Jupiter and the Sun, to give the location of the Asteroid Belt.
Pluto Neptune Uranus Saturn Jupiter A.B. Sun Pocket Solar System
o
Fold the card halfway between the Asteroid Belt and the Sun to give the location of Mars.
A.B. Mars Sun o
Now, divide the distance between Mars and the Sun into four equal pieces, this will give the location of
Mercury, Venus and Earth respectively.
A.B. Mars Earth Venus Mercury Sun