Take a Celestial Hike
Learn about distances in our solar system by taking an interplanetary hike!
Distances in the solar system are huge! The distance from the Sun to Neptune is nearly three billion miles (four billion kilometers).
It’s not just the distances between planets that are large. There are also huge differences in the size of each planet. Because of this, it can be difficult or even impossible to display both planet size and distance accurately, especially in smaller scale models like an image.
Before I created my own Celestial hike printable, this was how we did this astronomy lesson in our homeschool:
After making Easter bunny ears, we explored the solar system by walking through a scale model of it. I made flags with construction paper and bamboo sticks. The flags represented the sun and the planets. From the sun, the 36 million miles to Mercury was represented by 1 step, the 67 million miles to Venus was represented by 2 steps, etc. After walking the 103 steps to walk all the way to Pluto (yeah, yeah…I know Pluto is now a dwarf planet), my oldest was shocked to find out Alpha Centauri would be 200 miles away. I put it into perspective and talked about the distance to the grandparent’s house. I think my kids got the point!
We discuss taking a Celestial Hike and many other FREE science activities in Episode 030. Early Elementary Hands-On Science:
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Now it’s your turn for a
Celestial Hike!
Let’s explore the solar system by walking through a SCALE MODEL of it.
Through completing this lesson, your child will gain an appreciation of the vastness of distances between the planets. You can also compare these distances to the greatest distances that humans have ever traveled.
Materials:
-Your FREE Celestial Markers (pdf)
-Bamboo skewers or sticks
-Open field
1. Watch this video
Watch this 2 minute YouTube Video to learn about the size of planets and the distances between them to see how far they are from each other, how they differ in size, and how difficult it is to display both their size and distance accurately.
2. Print your Celestial Markers
Download, Print, and Cut out your FREE Celestial Markers:
3. Attach Celestial Markers to bamboo skewers
You can use tape or hot glue to attach the celestial markers to your bamboo skewers.
If you are brand new to homeschooling, be sure to visit the Getting Started Page
4. Create your scale model of the solar system
Steps:
- Head to the park or open field.
- Find a place outside where you can take 100 steps in a straight line.
- Place the Sun at the beginning of this line.
- Now pace off the distances to each planet or celestial body using the table. (below)
- Pretend you are a spaceship flying across your entire solar system.
Each step you take will stand for 30 million miles in the real solar system:
| Celestial Body | Distance to the Sun | Total Steps from the Sun | Step to take |
| Sun | START HERE | START HERE | START HERE |
| Mercury | 36 million miles | 1 | 1 step |
| Venus | 67 million miles | 2 | 1 more step |
| Earth & Moon | 93 million miles | 3 | 1 more step |
| Mars | 142 million miles | 4 | 1 more step |
| Asteroid Belt | 329 million miles | 11 | 7 more steps |
| Jupiter | 483 million miles | 13 | 2 more steps |
| Saturn | 885 million miles | 25 | 12 more steps |
| Uranus | 1.8 billion miles | 50 | 25 more steps |
| Neptune | 2.8 billion miles | 78 | 28 more steps |
| Pluto | 3.7 billion miles | 103 | 25 more steps |
| Alpha Centauri | 25 trillion miles | 200 miles! | Too far for a marker! |
5. Learn more about our solar system:
- Watch BrainPop – The Solar System
- Read and learn further from some of these recommended resources:
