Earth's Place in the Universe

209 Seconds That Will Make You Question Your Entire Existence

Just how big is our Solar System?

The Sun and Terrestrial Planets

Ask your student which planets could fit in the 5th Grade/Winton/ Library/Holden/Alpha Hallway.

THE THOUSAND-YARD MODEL or, The Earth as a Peppercorn

First, collect the objects you need. They are:

Sun-any ball, diameter 8.00 inches Walk 10 paces

Mercury-a pinhead, diameter 0.03 inch Walk 9 paces

Venus-a peppercorn, diameter 0.08 inch 7 paces

Earth-a second peppercorn 14 paces to Mars

Mars-a second pinhead 95 paces to Jupiter

Jupiter-a chestnut or a pecan, diameter 0.90 inch 112 paces to Saturn

Saturn-a hazelnut or an acorn, diameter 0.70 inch 249 paces to Uranus

Uranus-a peanut or coffeebean, diameter 0.30 inch 281 paces to Neptune

Neptune-a second peanut or coffeebean 242 Paces to Pluto

*Pluto- a third pinhead (or smaller, since Pluto is the smallest planet)

*Note: According to NASA, "Pluto, discovered in 1930, was long considered our solar system's ninth planet. But after the discovery of similar intriguing worlds deeper in the distant Kuiper Belt, icy Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet."

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