Space Encounters
Pre-Visit Activity:
How big is it?
Prepare your students for scale modeling.
Draw a circle on the chalkboard or on paper. It should be 8 inches in diameter. This represents the Sun. Now have your students draw circles according to what they think the sizes of the planets would be.
Answers:
Mercury - .028 in
Venus - .070 in
Earth - .073 in (about the size of a piece of pepper)
Mars- .039 in
Jupiter -.80 in (a little bigger than a penny)
Saturn - .67 in
Uranus- .269 in
Neptune- .261 in
Pluto - .01in
Try this activity after we've done your program:
Ringed Planets
Materials:
Paper plate
Markers
Pencil
Tape
This activity shows children how single pieces of ice and rocks can look like the rings around planets.
- Have children use dark markers to make dots scattered around the outer rim of the paper plate.
- Push the pencil through the center of the plate. You may want to use tape to hold it in place.
- Children can spin the pencil while looking at the plate. The dots will merge into rings before their very eyes!
Books:
Golden Book Publishing Solar System
Branley, Franklyn Mansfield. The Planets in Our Solar System: Stage 2
Davis, Kenneth C. Don't Know Much about the Solar System
Internet Sites for Kids:
Cosmic Quest
NASA Kids
Internet Sites for Teachers:
Solar System Simulator
The Space Place
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