Solar System in Your Pocket

NOTE: OBJECTS ARE NOT TO SIZE You should have a piece of register tape, about 1 meter long. 1. Put your finger at one end of the strip. 2. Label this as the sun. 3. Put your finger at the other end of the strip. 4. Label this as Pluto.

Predicting Flip the strip over. Lightly with a pencil label where you think the following would be: Earth Jupiter Neptune

5. Fold the strip in half and crease it. 6. Unfold it and lay it flat 7. Place a small circle (nickel size) at the halfway point. 8. Label it as Uranus.

9. Fold the tape back in half. 10. Fold it in half again. 11. Unfold it and lay flat. 12. Draw a small circle (nickel size) at the ¼ mark closest to the sun. 13. Label this Saturn. 14. Draw a small circle (nickel size) at the ¾ mark closest to Pluto. 15. Label this Neptune.

16. Fold the strip back into quarters. 17. Now fold in half again. 18. Unfold and lay flat. You should have eighths. 19. Draw a small (nickel size) at the 1/8th mark, between the sun and Saturn. 20. Label it Jupiter.

21. Leaving it flat fold the sun to meet Jupiter. 22. Unfold the strip. 23. Label this fold the asteroid belt.

25. Fold the sun edge to meet the asteroid belt. 26. Unfold and lay the strip flat. 27. Draw a dot right before the fold, closer to the sun. 28. Label it Earth. 29. Draw a dot right after the fold, closer to the asteroid belt. 30. Label it Mars.

31. Draw two small dots between the Sun and Earth, spacing them out evenly. 32. Label the one closest to the sun as Mercury. 33. Label the one closest to Earth as Venus.

You now have a solar system you can fit in your pocket! Check your markings on the back, were any of your predictions close? Fold the solar system back up and write your name and period on the outside. Give your pocket solar systems to your resource manager to turn in to me.

Given this spacing, why do you think little Venus can outshine Jupiter in the night sky?

You now have a solar system you can fit in your pocket! On this scale 1m=40 AU, where would the sun be? (the front of the school, TJ, Ensenada) TJ Where would the nearest star be?