Episode 1 - Super Size Solar System

The Solar System is quite amazing!

I’m sure you have heard of the planets in our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

But have you thought about how big they are? Or how far away they are?

No pictures can really show the solar system accurately.  The sun is so big and the planets so far away.   In Episode 1, Sophie uses her climbing frame and her craft skills to compare the planets to the sun.

You can try this for yourself!   If you want to know how big the planets are you really need to know how big your sun is.  The real sun is about 1391400 km wide (about 864575 miles).    

You could see how big and how far away the planets would be if the sun was the size of:

• Your head

• A baseball

• A hula hoop

• Your school

• Your country or state

Calculate relative sizes of planets

Metric or Imperial Measurements? Kilometres, Metres and Centimetres
Miles, Feet and Inches

How big is your sun?

Images: NASA
Data from https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/

Calculate how far away the planets are

Metric or Imperial Measurements? Kilometres, Metres and Centimetres
Miles, Feet and Inches

How big is your sun?

Images: NASA
Data from https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/

Resources

These handouts give to scale comparisons of the planets in our solar system, compared to our sun.


Have fun colouring our logo! Don't forget to draw yourself into the second one!

Leave a comment to let us know what other topics you want to know more about  eg. Binary stars