Elementary Solar System Projects: Lessons to Get Students Looking at the Sky

Let's dig right in to three great projects:

YOU ARE A ROCKET

Elementary aged kids are eager to learn. It is one of my favorite things about teaching them. However, they are even more eager to run and play. Let's combine the two. Young students know about the Sun and the Moon. They can look outside each day or night and see one of them. They may not, however, know that the Sun is way farther away than the Moon. To them, they each take up about the same amount of space in the sky.

Take them outside. Set up a starting point that represent earth. First, ask them which they think is closer. Then, ask them how much further away they think the Moon is to the Earth compared to the Sun, or vice versa. Have them first run 392 yards (as rockets, of course.) Tell them they just ran to the Sun. Ask them again, whether they think the Moon will be closer or farther. Then have them run one yard. Tell them that that is how big the difference is between the distance to the Moon from Earth, compared to the first run that represents to Earth to the Sun. The Sun is about 392 times farther from Earth than the Moon is (on average.) Go back to your classroom and explain the difference on the board or on paper, and then explain to them the reason they look the same in the sky is the fact that the Sun is so much larger than the moon.

WHICH IS THE BIGGEST

It can be difficult to explain to your young students just how large the earth is. This makes it about 100 times as difficult to explain how big the sun is. Volume can be tough at this age, so we are sticking to diameter. For this exercise, I like to use pennies. Ask all of your students to bring in pennies on a certain day (inform them that all of the pennies are going to charity, and tell them about the charity and how they are helping people.)

Once the pennies are in, ask your kids what they think is the smallest of Moon, Earth, and Sun. Guide the consensus towards moon. Have one penny represent the size of the Moon.

The moon!

Credit: maxpate

Copyright: sxc.hu/maxpate