How Big Are They Really? • Earth= 8, 000 miles in diameter • Moon= 2, 159 miles in diameter (which is about four times smaller than the diameter of Earth) • Jupiter= over 85, 000 miles in diameter (1, 300 Earths could fit inside it! Put another way, if you had a ball that was about the size of a dime, Jupiter would be the size of a basketball!) • Sun= estimated at 865, 000 miles in diameter (You could fit about 1, 300, 000 Earths inside the Sun!) Mrs. Thornton 2011
Mrs. Thornton 2011
Mrs. Thornton 2011
Distance Activity • Now, you will work in groups of 3 or 4 to guess the distance between the Moon and the Earth. • Each group will have a 8 -inch Styrofoam ball to represent the Earth, and a 2 -inch ball to represent the Moon. (This is a 1 inch scale model; 1 inch = 1, 000 miles…so, an 8 inch ball=8, 000 miles, The Earth, and a 2 inch ball=2, 000 miles, The Moon) • Place the Moon at one end and the Earth at the other; how far apart do you think they need to be? (Remember we are measuring in the smaller scale not the actual distance-we don’t have enough room for that!) Mrs. Thornton 2011
What Is The Real Distance? • Distance from the Earth to the Moon is… 240, 000 miles Earth Moon Mrs. Thornton 2011
Next Activity • Estimate the distance from the Earth to the Sun • Stay in the same groups you measured the Earth to the Moon with. Discuss how far away you think the Earth is from the Sun. • We will go outside to make our predictions. (if the weather isn’t cooperating we will try this activity in the commons or do this tomorrow) Mrs. Thornton 2011