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A Solar System Walk on the Seawall worksheet preview

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A Solar System Walk on the Seawall

Grade 8 solar system scale practice: use planet size and distance data to place markers on a 500 m seawall walk and compare sizes.

Grade 8ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned toMS-ESS1-3

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What’s included

  • Single worksheet
  • Auto-graded online
  • 1 NGSS standard
  • Printable answer key
  • 10 questions
  • Classroom-ready

Details

Format
Interactive · Printable
Grade
Grade 8
Subject
Science
Question types
Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

  • Students use a scale to convert real solar system distances and sizes into model lengths.
  • Students analyze size and distance data to describe patterns among the planets.

How to use

Work the first scale conversion together, then let students use the data table on their own; a short walk of 23 m outside makes the Mars distance real.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

MS-ESS1-3

Analyze data to find the scale properties of objects in the solar system.

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A Solar System Walk on the Seawall

Use real size and distance data to plan a scale model of the solar system.

Part 1: Placing the markers

Read the passage and the table, then answer the questions.

Planets Along the Promenade

1The coastal town of Port Alder spent two years raising and strengthening its seawall so that winter storm waves would not flood the harbor streets. The new wall has a wide, straight promenade on top that runs 500 m from the ferry dock to the lighthouse. When the town asked for ideas to make the walk more interesting, the Port Alder Middle School science club proposed a scale model of the solar system.

2Eighth grader Wren Takahashi and the town planner, Mr. Elio Fontaine, started with the data in the table. The Sun would be a bronze disk set into the walk at the ferry dock. Each planet would get a marker post at its scaled distance from the Sun. Every post would carry a plaque with the planet's real diameter, its real distance from the Sun and one fact about its surface, so the walk would teach visitors even when the weather was gray.

3For distances the club chose the scale 1 m = 10 million km. At first Wren wanted to use the same scale for the size of each planet and the Sun. Then she worked out that at that scale the Sun's disk would be smaller than a dinner plate, and Earth would be a dot smaller than a grain of rice. Visitors would walk right past it.

4The club settled on two scales. Distances along the promenade use 1 m = 10 million km. Each marker post holds a model planet built at a second scale, 1 cm = 1,000 km, so Earth's model is a ball about 12.8 cm across. A sign at every post reminds visitors that the planet and its distance are shown at different scales. The bronze Sun disk only marks the starting point and is not built to either scale.

5Mr. Fontaine also asked about Pluto, a dwarf planet. Its average distance from the Sun is about 5,900 million km. Wren checked a walking pace of about 1.4 m each second and found that a visitor could walk from the Sun disk to the Neptune post in about five or six minutes.

Solar System Data
ObjectDiameter (km)Distance from SunMain makeup
Sun1,392,000—Hot gas
Mercury4,90058 million kmRock and metal
Venus12,100108 million kmRock and metal
Earth12,800150 million kmRock and metal
Mars6,800228 million kmRock and metal
Jupiter143,000778 million kmMostly gas
Saturn120,5001,430 million kmMostly gas
Uranus51,1002,870 million kmIces and gas
Neptune49,5004,500 million kmIces and gas
1.
Use the distance scale 1 m = 10 million km.

How far from the Sun disk should the Mars marker be?   m

2.
Use the distance scale 1 m = 10 million km.

How far would a visitor walk from the Earth marker to the Jupiter marker?   m

3.
Can the club fit a Pluto marker on the 500 m promenade at the same distance scale?
  • A. Yes, it would go about 490 m from the Sun disk.
  • B. No, it would need about 5,900 m of promenade.
  • C. No, it would need about 590 m of promenade.
  • D. Yes, it would go about 59 m from the Sun disk.
4.
The first four markers are all within 23 m of the Sun disk. What pattern in the spacing of the planets does the model show?
  • A. The large planets are close to the Sun, and the small planets are far away.
  • B. The planets are about the same distance apart all the way out.
  • C. The gaps get smaller farther out, so the outer planets are crowded together.
  • D. The inner planets are close together, and the gaps grow much larger farther out.
5.
Paragraph 3 says Wren first tried the distance scale for sizes too. Use 1 m = 10 million km.

How wide would the Sun's disk be at that scale?   cm

Part 2: Comparing sizes

Use the table and paragraph 4 of the passage.

6.
Use the size scale 1 cm = 1,000 km.

How wide should the model of Jupiter be?   cm

7.
About how many Earths lined up side by side would match the Sun's diameter?
  • A. About 109
  • B. About 1,100
  • C. About 11
  • D. About 9
8.
Why did the club use a second scale for the sizes of the model planets?
  • A. At the distance scale the gas planets would look smaller than the rocky ones, because gas weighs less than rock.
  • B. At the distance scale the planets would be too tiny to see, because they are small compared with the gaps between them.
  • C. At the distance scale the Sun would be bigger than the promenade, because it is the largest object in the solar system.
  • D. At the distance scale the planets would be too big to fit on the posts, because they are wide compared with the gaps between them.
9.
Sort each statement by whether the data table supports it.
The four planets closest to the Sun are also the four smallest planets.Each planet is wider than the planet just inside its orbit.Uranus is about twice as far from the Sun as Saturn.Venus and Earth are close to the same size.Neptune is about twice as wide as Uranus.The planets made mostly of gas or ices are the four farthest from the Sun.
Supported by the dataNot supported by the data
10.
A visitor says the planets take up most of the space in the solar system. Make a claim about this idea. Use numbers from the table or the model as evidence, and explain your reasoning.

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