Resource 6: A scale model of the solar system
Teacher resource for planning or adapting to use with pupils
| PLANET | REPRESENTED BY | DISTANCE FROM 'SUN' | FOR YOUR MODEL* |
| MERCURY | 1 mm poppy seed | 12 metres | 12 centimetres |
| VENUS | 3 mm pin head | 23 metres | 23 centimetres |
| EARTH | 3 mm pin head | 30 metres | 30 centimetres |
| MARS | 1. 5 mm mustard seed | 50 metres | 50 centimetres |
| JUPITER | 30 mm ball | 167 metres | 1. 67 metres |
| SATURN | 30 mm ball | 300 metres | 3 metres |
| URANUS | 10 mm marble | 600 metres | 6 metres |
| NEPTUNE | 10 mm marble | 900 metres | 9 metres |
| PLUTO | 1 mm poppy seed | 1. 25 kilometres | 12. 5 metres |
N.B: On this scale, our moon would be slightly smaller than a poppy seed and would be 8 cm from the Earth.
All the sizes and distances are approximations.
For practical reasons, you may wish to use this ‘shortened’ distance scale for your pupils’ model, but you will need to point out that the size of the planets is now disproportionately large.
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Resource 5: Solar system – facts and figures
