Grade 5 Reading
Our solar system is very large. So large that it can be hard to imagine some of the distances involved. Read and follow the directions below to create your own scale model of the solar system to show just how far away objects in space can be. Be sure to measure carefully!
by Doug Taylor
Materials:
1.
One roll of toilet paper
2.
One tape measure
3.
Felt pens to write on the toilet paper without tearing it
4.
Optional: Access to the Exploratorium website at: http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/solar_system/
Procedure:
1.
On the first square of toilet paper draw a circle with a diameter of 10 millimeters, color the circle yellow and label it, “Sun.” For our model to work you will have to pretend that the sun is this small. At this scale the largest planet, Jupiter, would only be about 1 millimeter across and the inner planets would be dots almost too small to see!
2.
Unroll and measure one foot down the toilet paper from your sun. Make sure to take care not to tear the toilet paper.
3.
Make a dot on the toilet paper with the tip of one of the felt pens, label this square,
“Mercury”
4.
Unroll the toilet paper some more until you can put a dot two feet away from the sun
5.
Make another dot on the toilet paper and label this square, “Venus”
6.
At three feet down the roll from the sun make another dot
7.
Label this square, “Earth”
8.
Unroll the toilet paper some more and make another dot 5 feet away from the sun
9.
Make a dot and label this sheet, “Mars”
10.
Now that you have finished the inner planets, our distances will increase much quicker!
This time unroll and measure 18 feet down the toilet paper roll from the sun
11.
Make a dot and label it, “Jupiter”
12.
The next planet you need to model is Saturn, measure 33 feet down the roll from the sun and make a dot
13.
Label this square Saturn
14.
Continue to measure down the roll until you get 67 feet away from the sun
15.
Label this dot Uranus; make sure you notice just how far away from the sun you are getting!
16.
At this scale Neptune would be 106 feet away from the sun; use your tape measure to make a dot on the toilet paper
17.
Label the square Neptune
18.
Pluto is not technically a planet anymore but it is still one of the most distant objects in our solar system
19.
Measure a point 139 feet down the roll from the sun and make a dot for Pluto
Created by Doug Taylor
2011

Grade 5 Reading
What Can Your Model Tell You?
On our model, the sun is very small with a diameter of only 10 millimeters. The real sun has a diameter of 1,391,900 kilometers! Just look at how far away the planets are from the sun and from each other in our model. Imagine how distant those objects must be in reality! Look at the chart below to learn the real distances between objects in our solar system.
Object
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
Average distance from the sun Average distance to next nearest planet
57,950,000 kilometers
108,110,000 kilometers
50,160,000 kilometers
41,460,000 kilometers
149,570,000 kilometers
227,840,000 kilometers
778,140,000 kilometers
1,427,000,000 kilometers
41,460,000 kilometers
78,270,000 kilometers
550,300,000 kilometers
648,860,000 kilometers
2,870,300,000 kilometers
4,499,900,000 kilometers
5,913,000,000 kilometers
1,443,300,000 kilometers
1,629,600,000 kilometers
1,413,100,000 kilometers
These great distances are the main reason that humans have not yet visited any other planets. If you were able to travel from Earth to Venus in your car, it would take about 60 years driving nonstop to get there. Even with our fastest spacecraft if takes more than two years to make the trip to Mars. Other stars are even more distant. The next closest star to Earth besides the Sun is called Alpha Centauri. If you wanted to put it on your model, it would be about 180 miles away. That would place it near San Francisco, California! Objects in space are very distant from one another!
Created by Doug Taylor
2011

Grade 5 Reading
Answer the following questions from the passage “Building a Solar System Model.”
1
Based on the passage which planet is closest to Earth?
A Mercury
B Mars
C Venus
D Jupiter
2
If we doubled the size of the sun in our model to 20 millimeters all the other distances would also be doubled. How far away would Pluto be from the sun at the new scale?
A 212 kilometers
B 278 feet
C 287 feet
D 278 kilometers
3
Which of these statements is best supported by the passage?
A It would take more than 20 years for humans to travel to the planet
Mars
B People have visited all the other planets in our solar system
C Objects in space are very far away from one another
D Alpha Centauri is the closest star to the Earth
4
What is the main purpose of the passage?
A To help the reader understand the distance between objects in the solar system
B To show how far away Alpha
Centauri is from Earth
C To help the reader understand the distance from the Sun to Pluto
D To show the distances between the inner planets
5
What would be the best new title for the passage?
A How Far Are the Stars?
B A New Use for Toilet Paper
C The Planets of the Solar System
D Distances: A Solar Model
6 According to the passage, why haven’t humans visited the other planets in our solar system yet?
A The other planets are too far away
B It would be too expensive
C
People can’t travel in outer space
D People have visited the other planets in the solar system
Created by Doug Taylor
2011

Grade 5 Reading
Write your answer to question 7 on a separate piece of paper.
7
Using details from the passage, explain why these directions would be easy/difficult for you to follow. Use details from the passage to support your response.
Created by Doug Taylor
2011

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Grade 5 Reading
Answers
C
B
C
A
D
A
CR: Students can choose either easy or difficult but must defend their choice.
Details to support difficult might include the distances involved and the difficulty measuring or the fact that the toilet paper can tear easily.
Measuring carefully is a skill that might be mentioned in defending a choice of easy.
Created by Doug Taylor
2011