Sizes and distances in the solar system, using a scale

Answer Key - Grade 6 Science Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer, or write your answer on the line.

1. Read this first

   Table (NASA Planetary Fact Sheet), NASA values

   Earth diameter 12,756 km; average distance from the Sun in millions of km: Earth 149.6; Mars 228.0; Jupiter 778.5.

2. 1.

   Esme makes Earth a 1 cm bead, so each centimeter stands for Earth's 12,756 km width. About how many meters from the Sun model does the Earth bead go?

   117 m
3. 2.

   In Jun's bead model, each centimeter stands for Earth's 12,756 km width. About how many meters from the Sun model does the Mars bead go?

   179 m

4. Use this

   Table (NASA Planetary Fact Sheet), with columns Planet and Millions of km, average distance from the Sun in millions of km: Earth 149.6; Mars 228.0.

5. 3.

   On the hallway model at 10 million km per centimeter, how many centimeters apart are the Earth and Mars models? Luz rounds to the nearest whole centimeter.

   8 cm

6. Use this

   Table (NASA Planetary Fact Sheet), with columns Planet and Millions of km, average distance from the Sun in millions of km: Jupiter 778.5; Saturn 1,432.0.

7. 4.

   Milo walks from the Jupiter model to the Saturn model, at 10 million km per centimeter. How many centimeters apart are they, to the nearest whole centimeter?

   65 cm

8. Use this

   Table (NASA Planetary Fact Sheet), with columns Planet and Millions of km, average distance from the Sun in millions of km: Uranus 2,867.0; Neptune 4,515.0.

9. 5.

   The last stretch of Noah's hallway model runs from Uranus to Neptune, at 10 million km per centimeter. How many centimeters apart, to the nearest whole centimeter?

   165 cm
10. 6.

    Sun 1,391,400; Jupiter 142,984. A poster says the Sun is about twice as wide as Jupiter. Pia checks the NASA table. Which response is best?

    • Disagree: the Sun is about 10 times as wide as Jupiter
    • Agree: the Sun is just a little bigger than Jupiter
    • Disagree: the Sun is about 1,000 times as wide
    • Agree: Jupiter is nearly as big as a star
11. 7.

    Earth diameter 12,756 km; Neptune's average distance from the Sun 4,515.0 million km. Ren's friend says one poster can show the planets' sizes and distances at one scale, with each planet easy to see. Which response is best?

    • Disagree: with a 1 cm Earth, Neptune would be about 3.5 km away
    • Agree: a big poster has room for both
    • Agree: the planets are fairly close together anyway
    • Disagree: the Sun would come out smaller than Earth

12. Use this

    Table (NASA Planetary Fact Sheet), with columns Planet and Millions of km, average distance from the Sun in millions of km: Jupiter 778.5; Saturn 1,432.0.

13. 8.

    A video says Saturn is about twice as far from the Sun as Jupiter. Tala checks the NASA table. Which response is best?

    • Disagree: the gap from Jupiter is about 1,432 million km
    • Agree: 1,432.0 ÷ 778.5 is about 1.8, close to 2
    • Disagree: neighbors are evenly spaced, so it is a small step
    • Disagree: Saturn is closer to the Sun than Jupiter
14. 9.

    Sun 1,391,400; Earth 12,756. In Zee's model, the Sun is a ball 1 meter wide. Using the NASA table, about how wide should the Earth ball be?

    • About 1 mm, the size of a grain of sand
    • About 10 cm, the size of an orange
    • About 1 cm, the size of a pea
    • About 50 cm, half the Sun's width
15. 10.

    “Drawing of a classroom strip:” Ari's class model puts each planet 10 cm after the one before it. What is wrong with the model?

    • The gaps should shrink farther from the Sun
    • The Sun ball should match Jupiter's size
    • The outer planets should be much farther apart
    • Nothing; planets really sit about evenly spaced