Learn about the relative distances between objects in our solar system! In this fun lab, your students will learn about the vastness of space and the spacing of planets in a hands-on way as they perform calculations and mark the locations of planets on a measuring tape. This post includes a materials list and directions for this fun, hands-on math and measurements activity!
In this lab, students will mark the model locations of planets on a tape measure after performing calculations. It may surprise students to see that the planets of the solar system are not evenly spaced out at all, as they are often shown in solar system diagrams. In fact, the inner four planets are grouped much more closely than the outer gas giants! Students will also calculate just how tiny scale models of planets would need to be if included in the model.
In this post, you will learn how to set up your own relative distances lab. You can also get printable versions of these directions plus worksheets, handouts, and classroom posters to go along with this lab in my Solar System Relative Distances Lab Mini Study!
Gather Your Materials
Gather the following materials for the solar system distances lab:
Other Materials:
- Tape measure
- 9 clothespins
- Planet and Sun flashcards to use as markers
- Student handouts (1 set per student) – available here!
- Calculators (1 per student or group)
Set Up
- Stretch out a tape measure along the ground.
- Tell students that the Sun is located a 0 and Neptune is located at the highest number on the tape measure.
- Use a clothespin to attach the Neptune and Sun flashcards to the proper locations.
- Go through the example below with your class to learn how to find the locations of the other planets. Find the actual distances from the sun to each planet in the table below.
- Finally, ask students to calculate the model locations of the other planets on the tape measure in small groups.
Example Calculation
If you have a 5 meter tape measure, then the Sun is at 0 meters and Neptune is at 5 meters. In reality, Neptune is 4,635,000,000 km from the Sun. We want to know where to mark Uranus on the tape measure. Uranus is 2,881,000,000 km from the Sun.
- Set up the equation:
2. Solve for model distance:
3. Put the actual distance (in kilometers) to Uranus into the equation:
4. Find and mark the calculated location on the tape measure.
5. Repeat these sets with the other planets in the solar system.
Other Suggestions
- To make this activity simpler, calculate the distances to mark on the tape measure before the lab and provide these numbers to the students. Students can still work through finding the correct locations on the tape measure and marking the location of each planet.
- For more advanced groups, ask students to start by trying to figure out on their own how they would set up the equation to solve this problem.
- Pay attention to units while working through the example. Ask students how they know which units to use for their answers.
Problem Questions
- Outer space is mostly made of empty space. Planets and stars are relatively tiny compared to the distances between them. But let’s imagine we are trying to make a scale model of the solar system with planets and a Sun that are to scale, relative to the distances between them on our tape measure.
- If we add a scale model of Jupiter to our tape measure model, what would its diameter be? The actual diameter of Jupiter is 87,000 miles (140,000 km). Show your work below.
- What is the problem with building this model?
- Let’s say we want to build a model of the solar system with both planet sizes and distances between planets to scale. We want to use a marble as Earth. The marble has a diameter of 0.75 inch (1.9 cm). Earth’s actual diameter is 7,900 miles (13,000 km).
- For this model, what would the distance between the Sun and Earth be? Give your answer in miles or kilometers.
- For this model, what would the distance between the Sun and Neptune be? Give your answer in miles or kilometers.
- For this model, what would the diameter of the Sun be? The Sun’s actual diameter is 865,000 miles (1,390,000 km).
Reflection Questions
- What is one thing that surprised you during this activity?
- Describe the spacing of the planets in our solar system. Are they evenly spaced or not?
- Do most images/diagrams of our solar system do a good job representing relative sizes and distances between objects? Why or why not?
This activity comes from my Sun Unit!
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