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Game to Teach That the Sun Is Bigger Than the Earth

The sun seems to be small from a vantage point here on Earth, so it can be difficult to impart its true size to a child. The fact that the sun is far bigger than the Earth is an important lesson, one that can lay the foundation for understanding both astronomy and the concept of relative size. Play a game to teach children about the sun's size. The children will enjoy learning and will be more likely to retain the information if you construct a hands-on lesson.

Facts
- With a radius of 432,169 miles and a surface area of more than 2 trillion square miles, the sun is far larger than the Earth. The Earth boasts a radius of 3,959 miles and a surface area of approximately 196,937,000 square miles. Over 1 million Earths could fit into the sun, and 100 Earths lined up next to each other would almost cover the diameter of the sun. The sun and the Earth are very far from each other, about 93 million miles away. Numbers so large are difficult to visualize.
Game Play
- To play the game, obtain a dried pea or lentil and a large yellow beach ball to represent the Earth and the sun, respectively. When the child examines the two objects, he will obviously see that the ball both is and appears larger. In a large area, like an auditorium, a gym or an outdoor space, move the ball farther away as the child holds the pea in front of his face. Ask the child to yell "Freeze" when the two appear to be the same size. You can then switch and hold the bean while the child moves.
Variations
- Experiment with additional features to help the child retain the message about relative size. For example, make up a song to sing as you move with the sun. Set a lyric like "The sun gets farther and farther away, and it looks smaller and smaller" to a familiar melody like "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Make the game competitive by giving a point every time the child tells you to freeze. Give each player three minutes in each role and play one or more rounds. The person with the most points at the end wins.
Learning
- The game teaches many concepts. Just seeing how two objects of such very different sizes represent the Earth and the sun will help the child visualize what the two bodies look like in reality. Follow up with photographs or graphics that show the solar system and the size differences among the astronomical bodies. The child will also learn about the concept of perspective, how objects appear smaller as distance increases and inversely how they appear larger when close. This will help explain the seemingly small size of the vast sun.

Astronomy