Description
Teach the scale of our Solar System with these classroom activities that turn toilet paper into a powerful science model.
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How far apart are the planets—and how big are they compared with one another? In this episode of On Air from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Marty and Beth demonstrate a great classroom activity designed to help students visualize distances and relative planet sizes.
First, discover how to build a distance scale model of the solar system using rolls of toilet paper. Students predict where planets belong, test their estimates, and compare their models with actual astronomical data. And yes, we answer the big question: How much toilet paper would it take to reach Jupiter?
Then, explore a hands-on model that uses a balloon, beans, seeds, marbles, and other familiar objects to compare the relative sizes of the Sun and planets.
Want to go even bigger? We’ll show you how to supersize the activity and create a model spanning hundreds of yards.
These activities give middle school science teachers an accessible way to explore solar system scale, planetary distances, relative planet sizes, astronomical units, scientific modeling, estimation, measurement, and math—all with inexpensive classroom materials.
On Air is made possible by the generous support of Amazon, Boeing and the Hexcel Foundation.
This video is part of the National Air and Space Museum’s monthly theme, Solar System. Be sure to check out the other videos in this collection.
🪐 Setting the Scene: https://s.si.edu/3Tlh34d
⁉️ Museum Connection: https://s.si.edu/4y4PhIt
🌌 Career Paths: https://s.si.edu/4yLxw0D
🎥Credits🎞️
Featuring
Marty Kelsey
Beth Wilson
Production Team
Aryaman Kantawala
Loren Friesen
Victoria Orozco
Special Thanks
Providence Elementary School
SILAS Education
Erika Novak
Beth Crownover
The full transcript of this video can be found on the Educator Guide: https://s.si.edu/SS_EG_YT
On Air is a free educational series for students produced by the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. We cover all the cool, fun, and weird ways that aviation and spaceflight touch our lives. Visit the website to learn more: https://bit.ly/OnAirWebsite_YT
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00:00 Introduction
0:20 TP Solar Systems
02:27 Solar System in a Bag
04:45 Super Size
06:48 Fun Facts
07:01 Adam Savage
07:12 Nobel Prize Winner
07:59 Jokes