Name _____________________________
Section ______
Scaled Distances of the Solar System
Solar System
Object
Distance from Sun
in MILES
(mi)
0
Distance from Sun
in KILOMETERS
(km)
0
Planet Mercury
36 million
58 million
Planet Venus
67 million
108 million
93 million
150 million
Planet Mars
142 million
228 million
Planet Jupiter
484 million
778 million
Planet Saturn
887 million
1,427 million
Planet Uranus
1,784 million
2,871 million
Planet Neptune
2,794 million
4,497 million
Sun (star)
Planet Earth
Distance from
(AU)
0
1.0
FYI: One AU represents the distance from the Earth to the Sun.
1 AU = 93 million MILES (93,000,000 mi)
1 AU = 150 million KILOMETERS (150,000,000 km)
NOTE: If you choose to use miles as your reference, then divide each number by 93.
NOTE: If you choose to use km as your reference, then divide each number by 150.
Directions:
1. Using either miles or kilometers, convert the distances into
Astronomical Units (AU).
2. On each of the nine notecards you prepared in the size scale
activity, write the distance from the Sun in Astronomical Units.
3. Determine the total number of meter stick lengths you will need
to show the scaled distances of the planets from the Sun. (One
meter stick will represent one AU.)
* Total number of meter stick lengths you will need: _________
4. You will be given five meter sticks. Starting at the location that
your teacher assigns to your group, lay out the meter sticks end to
end, to measure out the scaled distances.
5. Place the Sun and planet notecards on the floor at the correct
locations to show where the Sun and planets would be on your
scale model of our Solar System. (FYI: Pluto is 39.53 AU from
the Sun.)
6. Show the teacher your scale model for Solar System distances.
Teacher Check: _____
Conclusion Questions:
1. A) Write a statement that compares the differences in
distance between the inner planets to the outer planets in our
Solar System? (What did you visually notice?)
B) What surprised you about the distances?
A) ________________________________________________________
B) ________________________________________________________
2. If there were two (2) new planets discovered, one between
Earth and Mars (Planet Y), and the other between Saturn
and Uranus (Planet Z), describe the characteristics you
would expect for each planet using the T-chart below.
Make a comparison T-chart and include the following:
(A) gaseous or rocky, (B) few or lots of moons, (C)
atmospheric composition, (D) gravity compared to Earth
(E) average surface temp: hot, med or cool, (F) rings or no
rings, (G) other characteristics…
NOTE: The T-chart data table is on the back of this sheet.
T-Chart of Characteristics for Planet Y and Planet Z
PLANET Y
A)
B)
C)
D)
E)
F)
G)
PLANET Z