5 Solar System Scale Model Activities for Middle School
Inside: I’m sharing 5 easy activities to help students understand scale and discover the relationship between planet size and distance, including my favorite video, measurement activity, and quick-fold solar system model.
Are you looking for creative ways to teach your students about the scale of our solar system?
Scale models are an excellent way for middle school students to understand the relationship between the size and distance of planets in a hands-on, engaging format.
1. Make Scale Models Relevant to Your Students
Making scale models relevant to your students is not as difficult as it sounds. Students interact with scale models every day and may not even realize it.
Helping students recognize scale models they see daily is a great way to engage them!
As a class or in a small group, brainstorm a list of scale models that students are familiar with.
Here are some scale models students might be familiar with to get you started:
- Toy cars – Most are designed to scale with real vehicles, which helps kids see how a larger object can be represented in a smaller form.
- Globes – Here’s a list of familiar scale models that kids might recognize or encounter in everyday life:
- Dollhouses – Dollhouses are miniature versions of real homes, complete with scaled-down furniture, rooms, and sometimes even household items.
- Model Airplanes and Trains – These miniature versions of planes and trains help kids visualize the size and design of real vehicles and are often found in model stores or museums.
- Maps – Road maps and online map tools use scale to show distances and locations, which can be connected to scaled distances in larger spaces, like the solar system.
- Blueprints or Architectural Models – Kids might see blueprints or models of buildings in a classroom or museum, helping them understand how architects plan and represent large structures in a small format.
Don’t forget to pin this for later!
2. Scale Model Video
I love using this YouTube video in the classroom every year!
In this video, a group of friends build a scale model of the solar system, complete with planetary orbits. The size is mind-blowing!
3. NASA’s Solar System Scroll Activity
This is one of my favorite scale models to show students how much “space” exists between planets.
In this quick-fold activity, students use a piece of register tape (or a thin sheet of paper about 2 feet long) to predict and then create their scale model of the solar system.
You can find the original activity on the NASA JPL Website.
The activity uses register tape, but if you don’t have access to it, I’ve successfully used long strips of bulletin board paper.
Many of my students are visual learners, so I created a presentation to use as we folded the paper. It really helped them to follow directions and create their scroll!
You can grab a copy of the presentation and lesson shown above in the Free Resource Library. It really helps the kids visualize what to do as we create the scroll in class.
4. Scale Model of Planet Size
Are you looking for an activity to help students understand how the sizes of each planet compare to one another?
NASA has an easy-to-use scale model PlayDoh activity that I love!
Each group starts with a 3 lb. container of Playdoh and follows directions to separate and combine pieces resulting in an amazing scale model for planet size
It’s also a great exercise in direction following, and kids are always amazed in the end.
This is a great activity to use as a demo since 10+ packs of Play-Doh can get pricy!
5. Map the solar system
Students can brush up on their measurement skills while creating a giant solar system model.
In this model, we use the scale 1 cm = 1,000,000 km.
The sun at this scale would be the size of a dime.
I like to take students outside and use chalk to create the solar system in the parking lot, but this can also be done by taping planet names to the floor in the hallway or walking the football field.
