Year 7 Science Astronomy Pocket Solar System Prac Slides Contains slides for creating a pocket solar system. At the end of the slides there is also a table with a comparison of planets in the solar system (reduced by 200 000 000 times) with common objects of the same size.

1. POCKET SOLAR SYSTEM
YEAR 7 – SOLAR SYS T EM
Mr Chin

2. AIM
• To create a pocket solar system using a roll of paper
and a pen.

3. EQUIPMENT
• A length of paper about 10cm wide cut to the length
of about your height.
• Permanent marker or thick black pen.

4. METHOD
1. Measure out and cut a length of paper approximately
your height.
2. On the top end of the paper write the word ‘SUN’.
3. On the bottom end of the paper write the word
‘KUIPER BELT’.
4. Fold the edges of the paper together, (so the word SUN
and KUIPER BELT touch each other) and crease it in
the middle.
5. Unfold the piece of paper and hold it to your head so
that the word SUN is at your head. The middle crease
should be halfway between your head and feet.

5. METHOD
6. Now what body part is halfway between your head and feet?
Correct. Draw a line through the middle crease and write the
word URANUS just below.
7. Fold the two ends together again so that SUN and KUIPER
BELT are touching. Now fold it in half again.
8. Unfold the paper completely. At the crease between the
KUIPER BELT and URANUS, draw a line through the
crease and write the word NEPTUNE.
9. At the crease between the SUN and URANUS, draw a line
through the crease and write the word SATURN.
10. Now fold the SUN end of the paper to SATURN. Draw a
line through the crease and write the words ASTEROID
BELT.

6. METHOD
11. Now here’s where it gets a bit crowded in the inner solar
system. Fold the SUN end to the ASTEROID BELT, unfold
the paper and draw a line through the crease. Write the word
MARS.
12. Fold the SUN end of the paper to MARS. Do not unfold the
paper and fold it in half again.
13. Unfold the paper and you should have three creases between
the SUN and MARS.
14. From the SUN end draw a line through the first crease and
label it with MERCURY, then the second crease with
VENUS and the third crease with EARTH.
15. Unfold the paper completely. You have finished your pocket
solar system.

7. RESULTS
• Take a picture on your laptop with you holding your
pocket solar system and upload it to your 7.6 Solar
system document.
• Do you notice how much space there is in the outer
solar system compared with the inner solar system?

8. MODELING THE SOLAR SYSTEM
• How big are the planets compared to each other? The
table below shows the size of the planets reduced by
200 000 000 times.
• Common objects of the same size are given for
reference.

9. TABLE OF COMPARISON
Planet*# Size for model
(mm)
Common object of the same size
Mercury 2.1mm Half a grain of white rice
Venus 5.3mm Ball from a bean bag
Earth 5.5mm Ball from a bean bag
Mars 3.0mm Single black peppercorn
Jupiter 62.0mm Tennis ball
Saturn 52.0mm Billiard ball
Uranus 24.2mm Large glass marble
Neptune 20.8mm Large glass marble
Pluto* 1.0mm Single grain of sand
Sun# 650mm Yoga/Fitness ball