Goals:

To create an awareness of the distance between the planets and the complexity of the solar system through a model of an active solar system.

To incorporate physical education and math with the ability to convert distances of each planet's orbit in relation to a quarter mile track.

To understand planets that are further away from the sun have a larger orbit path than the planets closer to the sun.
 

Content Areas:

Physical Education - walking 1 mile

Math - calculating distances, recording

Materials:

Quarter mile track or an area that can represent the path of the planet's orbit

Paper and pencil for team members to keep track of each orbit.

Procedure: (20 minutes)

1) With the students divided into teams by planet, each team will represent a relay team. The students will share in the walking of a mile in their proper planet's orbit.

2) The model solar system would use a quarter mile track as Pluto's orbit scaling inward; each orbit will be marked.

Assessment:

Ask the students to keep track of their observations while "in orbit" and what they learned about their planet in relation to the other planets. What the students have learned can be assessed through a journal entry and then discussion. Criteria for success in the entry: students must explain how their planet's orbit (relative to other planets) applies to the fact that planets that are further from the sun have a larger orbit than the planets closer to the sun.

Extensions:

Have students switch orbit paths to better compare and contrast size of the planets' orbits.

Have students create an art activity building a mobile of the different planets in their orbits.

Making Waves - written by Jennifer Cannistra, Jamie Hanna, Michael LeRoy, & Kim Mongoven

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