Science Fun:
Our Planets Orbit the Sun

After completing the lesson Relative Size, you may find this a good continuing activity. It also works well as a stand along project.

Each of the planets in our solar system orbit the sun at a different speed. How fast they orbit depends on how far they are from the sun. Mercury, being the closest planet to the sun, orbits very fast – it orbits the sun in only three months, Earth time! Pluto, the planet farthest from the sun, takes 248 Earth years to orbit the sun!!

Project Supplies:

toothpicks
scissors
string
tape
modeling clay
nine different colors of pens or markers
a large sheet of poster board
colored paper that matches the pens or markers*

Directions:

1. Use a string to draw a sun and nine circles abound it. Use a different color to draw each of the nine circles.

2. Mark twelve dots on each circle so that they are equally-spaced around the entire circle. On the small circles, the dots will be closer together than they will be on the larger circles.

3. Make 9 triangle shaped flags each of a different color of paper to match the circle color. Tape each flag to a toothpick. Stick each toothpick into a small lump of modeling clay so that it will stand up.

4. Place each flag on the first dot of each circle. The flags should match the circle color. Meaning a red flag on a red circle, a blue flag on a blue circle, a green flag on a green circle, etc.

Now to start orbiting:

5. Move each flag one dot until all the flags have all traveled 12 dots.

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