Name: __________________________________ Period: _______ Date:_____________
LAB # ___________
All labs must be completed in pencil
Introduction: The solar system consists of the Sun, 8 planets and their satellites, asteroids, and comets. A planet is a celestial body that orbits a star and a satellite is any object that orbits another object, such as the moon.
Mercury is the planet nearest the Sun. Neptune is about 80 times as far away. Other small minor bodies called dwarf planets, such as Pluto, Charon, and Sedna orbit or revolve hundreds of times farther out than Mercury. A planet’s revolution is the rate at which it moves around the sun. All planets revolve around the Sun at different rates (ex: it takes Earth 365 days to get around the Sun).
Planets also rotate, which is to spin in place (ex: the Earth rotates once every 24 hours).
Between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars exists an asteroid belt. This belt contains thousands of
asteroids which are small, dense, rocky bodies that also orbit the Sun. Earth passes through this belt in its revolution around the Sun which can cause these rocky bodies to collide with our planet. These collisions have happened in Earth’s past and will happen again in the future. Other satellites known as
comets also orbit around the Sun but at much greater distances. Most comets are made up of ice, dust, and rock and exist within the Kuiper belt located beyond Neptune.
So then what’s a shooting star? … See the image below:
 Comets : a chunk of ice and rock within the outer solar system
 Asteroids : a rock within the belt between Jupiter and Mars
 Meteoroid: an asteroid that enters Earth’s atmosphere
 Meteor: a meteoroid that burns up upon entering the atmosphere due to friction. This gives the illusion of a “shooting star”
 Meteorite: a meteor that doesn’t entirely burn up, a piece of space rock that hits Earth’s surface

To measure distances in the solar system, astronomers use the astronomical unit, A.U.. One A.U. equals the average distance between the Earth and the Sun. This is approximately 150 million kilometers (93 million miles).
The planets range in size from the terrestrial planet Mercury to the gas giant, Jupiter. Terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) are the smaller, rocky, more dense planets of our solar system.
Jovian planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) are the “gas giants” and are less dense, but much larger.
Objective: Using planetary data and scale conversions we will construct a class model of the solar system to show the relative sizes and distances of planets.
Procedure A: Read the directions carefully and check them off as they are completed.
1.
Open your E.S.R.T. to the “Solar System Data Chart”
2.
Write down the name of your assigned planet in Table 1
3.
Copy the diameter of your assigned planet from the E.S.R.T into Table 1
4.
Convert this diameter into the scale model using this conversion: 1 mm = 700 km
This means that for every 700 real kilometers, you will use 1 mm.
Round your result to the nearest tenth and use the example below to guide you. a.
Ex: Planet X has a diameter of 38,000 km b.
38,000 ÷ 700 = 54.28 ~ which rounds to 54.3 mm
5.
Convert the mm into cm but moving the decimal place once to the left.
Round your result to the nearest tenth and use the example below to guide you. a.
Ex: 54.3 mm  5.43 cm (just move the decimal to the left once) b.
5.43 cm rounded to the nearest tenth = 5.4 cm
EXAMPLE: Read the above directions to determine the conversion rules
PLANET NAME DIAMETER SHOW WORK SCALE DIAMETER
(mm)
SCALE DIAMETER
(cm)
TABLE 1:
PLANET NAME DIAMETER SHOW WORK SCALE DIAMETER
(mm)
SCALE DIAMETER
(cm)
6.
Obtain a piece of computer paper, a ruler, and a drawing compass
7.
Draw a line on the paper the length of your scale diameter in cm
8.
Use the drawing compass to create a circle. This is the size of your assigned planet
9.
Write your names on this paper and put it to the side for later

Procedure B: Read the directions carefully and check them off as they are completed.
1.
Open your E.S.R.T. to the “Solar System Data Chart”
2.
Write down the name of your assigned planet in Table 2
3.
Copy the “Mean Distance from Sun” of your assigned planet from the E.S.R.T into Table 2
4.
Convert this number from scientific notation to a real number
5.
Convert this distance into the scale model using this conversion: 1 cm = 10,000,000 km
This means that for every 10,000,000 kilometers, you will use 1 cm.
Round your result to the nearest tenth and use the example below to guide you. a.
Ex: Planet X has a distance from the Sun of 555.3 million km b.
555.3 million km written as a real number is 555,300,000 c.
555,300,000 km ÷ 10,000,000 km = 55.33 which rounds to 55.3 cm i.
*** Any answer greater than 100 cm must be converted to meters (m). ii.
Ex: Planet Y has a mean distance from the Sun of 3,656.2 million km iii.
3,656.2 million km written as a real number is 3,656,200,000 km iv.
3,656,200,000 km ÷ 10,000,000 km = 365.62 which rounds to 365.6 cm v.
Convert 365.6 cm to meters by moving the decimal two places to the left
365.6 cm  3.65 m
EXAMPLE: Read the above directions to determine the conversion rules
PLANET NAME MEAN DISTANCE
FROM SUN (million km)
SHOW WORK SCALE DISTANCE
(cm)
SCALE DISTANCE
(m)
TABLE 2:
PLANET NAME MEAN DISTANCE
FROM SUN (million km)
SHOW WORK SCALE DISTANCE
(cm)
SCALE DISTANCE
(m)
6.
Obtain a meter stick
7.
Glue or tape your planet onto the class scale model. Do this by measuring your scale model distance (cm or m) starting from the Sun outward.

Name: __________________________________ Period: _______
LAB # ___________
Date:_____________
All labs must be completed in pencil
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Discussion Questions: Answer the following questions in FULL AND COMPLETE sentences. The lab will not be graded unless it follows the proper format.
1.
Explain the difference between rotation and revolution.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2.
People often make wishes upon shooting stars.
What is a “shooting star” and what causes it to glow?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3.
Create a T-chart to list and describe the characteristics of terrestrial and jovian planets.
4.
Observe the class scale model and answer the following: a.
Which are the two largest planets? 1. ____________ 2.______________ b.
Which planet is closest in size to Earth? ___________________ c.
Between which two planets does the asteroid belt exist? 1. ____________ 2._________
5.
According to the diameters listed in your E.S.R.T., Jupiter’s diameter is how many times greater than Earth’s diameter? You may show your work to support your answer.
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
6.
Using your reference table and the scale from Procedure A, determine the scale diameter for a circle to represent the sun. You may show your work to support your answer.
DIAMETER SHOW WORK SCALE DIAMETER
(mm)
SCALE DIAMETER
(cm)
THE SUN

CONVERSION KEY
PLANET NAME DIAMETER SHOW WORK
MERCURY 4,879
SCALE DIAMETER
(mm)
6.97
SCALE DIAMETER
(cm)
0.7
VENUS 12,104 17.29
1.7
EARTH 12,756
MARS
JUPITER
SATURN
URANUS
NEPTUNE
6,794
142,984
120,536
51,118
49,528
PLANET NAME DISTANCE
MERCURY 57.9
VENUS 108.2
SHOW WORK
57,900,000
108,200,000
18.22
1.8
9.7
1.0
204.3
20.4
172.19
17.2
73.0
7.3
70.8
SCALE DISTANCE
(cm)
5.79
7.1
SCALE DISTANCE
(m)
10.82
EARTH 149.6 149,600,000 14.96
MARS 227.9 227,900,000 22.79
JUPITER
SATURN
778.4
1,426.7
778,400,000
1,426,700,000
77.84
142.67
1.43
URANUS 2,871.0 2,871,000,000 287.1
2.87
NEPTUNE 4,498.3 4,498,300,000 449.83
4.50

Name: __________________________________ Period: _______
LAB # ___________
Date:_____________
All labs must be completed in pencil
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Discussion Questions: KEY
1.
Explain the difference between rotation and revolution.
Rotation is the movement of a planet spinning in place and revolution is the movement of a planet going around the earth
1.
People often make wishes upon shooting stars.
What is a “shooting star” and what causes it to glow?
A shooting star is an meteor (asteroid: rock from space) that burns up upon entering earth’s atmosphere.
2.
Create a T-chart to list and describe the characteristics of terrestrial and jovian planets.
Terrestrial
-rocky
-dense
-closer to the sun
Jovian
-gaseous
-less dense
-further from the sun
3.
Observe the class scale model and answer the following: a.
Which are the two largest planets? 1. Jupiter 2.Saturn b.
Which planet is closest in size to Earth? Venus c.
Between which two planets does the asteroid belt exist? 1. Jupiter 2.Mars
4.
According to the diameters listed in your E.S.R.T., Jupiter’s diameter is how many times greater than Earth’s diameter? You may show your work to support your answer.
Jupiter’s diameter is about 11 times greater than the diameter of Earth
142,784 / 12,756 = ~ 11
5.
Using your reference table and the scale from Procedure A, determine the scale diameter for a circle to represent the sun. You may show your work to support your answer.
THE SUN
DIAMETER SHOW WORK SCALE DIAMETER (mm) SCALE DIAMETER (cm)
198.857 = 198.9
1,392,000 1,392,000 / 700 1988.57
1.98 meters