Hobbies And Interests
Size and Distance
Representing both size and distance to scale can be difficult. For example, a model with an 8-inch sun in which planet size and distance from the sun are scaled proportionally would require you to place Pluto nearly half a mile away. You could create a more manageable model by placing Pluto just over 3 1/2 feet from your sun. At this scale, Earth is just over an inch from the sun, and Jupiter is roughly 5 1/2 inches from it, but the scale is so small that your sun would have to be 1/100 inch to fit to scale, and all of the planets would be too small to see.
You can create accurate distances to scale and still make your planets visible by taking liberties with their size. Use very small spheres, such as small rubber balls or bearings, for the larger rocky planets, make the gas giants out of slightly larger spheres the size of golf balls or baseballs. Use even smaller bearings for the smaller rocky planets and for Pluto. Use a softball or other large sphere for the sun. Styrofoam craft spheres or any other type of spherical objects also work well. Your model planets will effectively illustrate that the sun and planets are all different in size; however, it will not accurately show how much larger or smaller they are than each other.
String, Wire and Dowels
In very small models, inner rocky planets can be supported by rigid wires or thin dowels that extend between the planets and the sun. The Earth, for example, can be attached to one end of a 1-inch long wire while the other end is attached to the sun. If you do not have any wire rigid enough to support your model planets, consider using toothpicks or sewing needles. These are sharp enough to pierce the surface of some rubber or styrofoam balls, so they can serve as dowels to hold the inner planets in place around the sun. If the entire model hangs from the ceiling or a frame, the sun and the outer planets can hang down from string or wire. If the model is attached to a base, wooden dowels can support the sun and planets from below.
Paint and Markers
Anyone can place a few balls at measured distances from a central point, but this approach alone does not create a visually striking model. Painting the sun and planets creates a more accurate depiction of the other planets as we see them from Earth. You will need yellow, brown, white and red paint for Jupiter. Use blue, brown and green for Earth. Mars should appear mostly red, and the outer planets beyond Jupiter should also be mostly solid colors: blue for Neptune, green for Uranus and yellow for both Saturn and Pluto. Use yellow for Venus and the sun, and mix yellow and red pigments to create the orange hue of Mercury. If you are using styrofoam craft spheres, permanent markers may also provide the colors you need.
Presentation
While you can accurately represent distance in smaller spaces simply by reducing scale, you will have to provide supplemental information about the actual planet sizes. In a model where Earth is 1 inch from the sun, its correctly scaled size would be too small to see, so use an external fact sheet, slide show or video presentation to address the fact that your planets are not built to scale. You may wish to include an illustration that shows how the planets compare to each other and to the sun, as well as text that explains actual distances within the solar system.