The Planet Walk

What is the Planet Walk?The Planet Walk is a scale model of the solar system installed by Mount Logan Middle School sixth grade students along the Logan River trail in Logan, Utah. It shows the relative size and distance each planet would be from the sun if the distance from the Sun to Neptune were condensed into one mile. We opted to exclude Pluto since it was recently demoted (Plutoed) from planet status due to its eccentric orbit and small size. If Pluto had kept its planet status, astronomers would have had to include several other objects in the solar system as planets as well. This doesn't mean Pluto no longer exists (for those Pluto lovers out there), it just means that our understanding of the solar system is evolving. 

Background 

Our sixth grade science team included Cassandra Housely, Bryce Passey, and myself (Eric Newell). The Planet Walk project is the result of our constructivist approach to teaching, which is based on the idea that people learn best by constructiong meaning from experiences. Since we can't fly our students through the solar system, we asked ourselves what would be the next best thing. We discussed the different ways in which all three of us have have separately tried to help kids understand the vast size of the solar system and came up with the idea of creating a scale model that students and community members could walk along. Originally we thought we'd install the planet plaques along the sidewalk, starting at the school and extending for one mile to the north. But we found a better location. . . . 

The Logan River begins from springs and snowmelt high in the Bear River Mountains near Beaver Mountain Ski Resort (one of our favorite places to collaborate). It tumbles for roughly twenty-five miles down LoganCanyon where it emerges into Cache Valley, flowing through the city of Logan and then meandering for another twenty miles before joining the Bear River at Cutler Marsh. The Bear River then flows into the Great Salt Lake. Between about 200 West and 600 West in Logan there is a popular mile-long walking trail next to the Logan River--the perfect setting for our project. Permission was granted from Logan City Parks and Recreation as long as we addressed a few concerns they had (plaques needed to be flush with the ground and maintenence free). Once we had an okay from the city, we wrote a grant and submitted it to the Logan City School District Foundation, who awarded us $500 for the project. Brown Monuments, in Logan, gave us a discounted price on the plaques to fit our budget. By the end of May (2007) students were digging holes, mixing cement, and setting the plaques in place. 

Click on the "The Planet Plaques" link at the top of the left menu bar to see the text on each plaque. 

Podcasts

During the 2007-2008 school year sixth grade studentscreated informative podcasts that other students and community members can download and listen to while walking the river trail. The podcasts will take particpants on a tour through the solar system. They are available for download in the left toolbar. 

Overview Map