Solar System Distance Demonstration
-----------------------------------

Purpose: To illustrate the distances
of the planets in our Solar System
to scale.

Prerequisities: Know the planets of
the Solar System in order.

Materials needed per student:
1 piece of register tape
  (a roll should be enough for one class)
1 pencil
scissors (1 for each group)

1. Each student cuts off a length of
register tape such that it is as long
as going from the fingertip of one hand
to the other when both arms are fully
extended sideways.

2. Write "Sun" on one end of the tape
and "Pluto" on the other.

3. Fold the tape in half, and make a line
at the fold. Let the students guess
which planet belongs there (answer = Neptune).
Write "Neptune" at the line.

4. Fold the tape such that the Sun and
Neptune touch (i.e. fold from the top),
and make a line at the fold. Let the 
students guess which planet belongs there 
(answer = Uranus). Write "Uranus" at the 
line.

5. Fold the tape such that the Sun and
Uranus touch (i.e. fold from the top),
and make a line at the fold. Let the 
students guess which planet belongs there 
(answer = Saturn). Write "Saturn" at the 
line.

6. Fold the tape such that the Sun and
Saturn touch (i.e. fold from the top),
and make a line at the fold. Let the 
students guess which planet belongs there 
(answer = Jupiter). Write "Jupiter" at the 
line.

7. Fold the tape such that the Sun and
Jupiter touch (i.e. fold from the top),
and make a line at the fold. Let the 
students guess what belongs there 
(answer = asteroid belt). Write "asteroids" 
at the line.

8. Fold the tape such that the Sun and
asteroids touch (i.e. fold from the top),
and make a line at the fold. Let the 
students guess which planet belongs there 
(answer = Mars). Write "Mars" at the 
line.

9. Fold the tape such that the Sun and
Mars touch (i.e. fold from the top), then
take that fold and fold it again touching
the Sun. You should now have three folds
between the Sun and Mars. Let the 
students guess which planets belongs there 
(answer = Mercury, Venus, Earth). Write 
their names at the lines.

Results: You will see a scale model of
the distances of the planets in our
Solar System. This is customized to 
each child's size, so it is a personal
model.

Origin of this little demo? 
This was demonstrated during a workshop
at the 2009 ASP Meeting in San Francisco.