Worksheet

Sizes and distances in the solar system, using a scale

Grade 6 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

NameDate

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

  1. Sun 1,391,400; Earth 12,756; Jupiter 142,984. Ari reads the NASA diameter table for a space poster. About how does the Sun's width compare with Earth's?

    • About the same width
    • About 1,000 times wider
    • About 109 times wider
    • About 2 times wider

  2. Mercury 4,879; Earth 12,756; Jupiter 142,984; Saturn 120,536; Neptune 49,528. Kira is choosing the biggest ball for a planet model. Which planet in the NASA table has the largest diameter?

    • Earth, our home planet
    • Jupiter, at 142,984 km
    • Neptune, the farthest planet
    • Saturn, the planet with big rings

  3. Read this first

    Use this

    Table (NASA Planetary Fact Sheet), with columns Planet and Millions of km, average distance from the Sun in millions of km: Mercury 57.9; Venus 108.2; Earth 149.6; Mars 228.0.

  4. Jun builds a hallway model where each centimeter stands for 10 million km. How many centimeters from the Sun model does Mercury go, to the nearest whole centimeter?

  5. In Luz's hallway model, each centimeter stands for 10 million km. How many centimeters from the Sun model does Venus go, to the nearest whole centimeter?

  6. Milo marks Earth on the hallway model, where each centimeter stands for 10 million km. How many centimeters from the Sun model, to the nearest whole centimeter?

  7. Use this

    Table (NASA Planetary Fact Sheet), with columns Planet and Millions of km, average distance from the Sun in millions of km: Mercury 57.9; Venus 108.2; Earth 149.6; Mars 228.0; Jupiter 778.5; Saturn 1,432.0; Uranus 2,867.0; Neptune 4,515.0.

  8. Pia wonders how far out Neptune really is. About how many times as far from the Sun as Earth is Neptune?

    • About 300 times as far
    • About 8 times as far, one step per planet
    • About 30 times as far
    • About 3 times as far

  9. Ren checks a poster against the NASA distance table. Which sentence matches the table?

    • Mars is farther from the Sun than Jupiter
    • The inner planets are spread farther apart than the outer ones
    • The planets sit at about equal steps from the Sun
    • The outer planets are much farther apart than the inner ones

  10. Earth 12,756; Moon 3,475. Tala compares diameters in the NASA table. About how many times as wide as the Moon is Earth, to the nearest whole number?

  11. Earth 12,756; Mercury 4,879. Zee lines up planet stickers by size. About how many times as wide as Mercury is Earth, to the nearest whole number?

  12. Jupiter 142,984; Earth 12,756. Jupiter looks like a giant beach ball next to Earth on Esme's poster. About how many times as wide as Earth is Jupiter, to the nearest whole number?

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Sizes and distances in the solar system, using a scale

Answer Key - Grade 6 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

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

  1. Sun 1,391,400; Earth 12,756; Jupiter 142,984. Ari reads the NASA diameter table for a space poster. About how does the Sun's width compare with Earth's?

    • About the same width
    • About 1,000 times wider
    • About 109 times wider
    • About 2 times wider

  2. Mercury 4,879; Earth 12,756; Jupiter 142,984; Saturn 120,536; Neptune 49,528. Kira is choosing the biggest ball for a planet model. Which planet in the NASA table has the largest diameter?

    • Earth, our home planet
    • Jupiter, at 142,984 km
    • Neptune, the farthest planet
    • Saturn, the planet with big rings

  3. Read this first

    Use this

    Table (NASA Planetary Fact Sheet), with columns Planet and Millions of km, average distance from the Sun in millions of km: Mercury 57.9; Venus 108.2; Earth 149.6; Mars 228.0.

  4. Jun builds a hallway model where each centimeter stands for 10 million km. How many centimeters from the Sun model does Mercury go, to the nearest whole centimeter?

    6 cm

  5. In Luz's hallway model, each centimeter stands for 10 million km. How many centimeters from the Sun model does Venus go, to the nearest whole centimeter?

    11 cm

  6. Milo marks Earth on the hallway model, where each centimeter stands for 10 million km. How many centimeters from the Sun model, to the nearest whole centimeter?

    15 cm

  7. Use this

    Table (NASA Planetary Fact Sheet), with columns Planet and Millions of km, average distance from the Sun in millions of km: Mercury 57.9; Venus 108.2; Earth 149.6; Mars 228.0; Jupiter 778.5; Saturn 1,432.0; Uranus 2,867.0; Neptune 4,515.0.

  8. Pia wonders how far out Neptune really is. About how many times as far from the Sun as Earth is Neptune?

    • About 300 times as far
    • About 8 times as far, one step per planet
    • About 30 times as far
    • About 3 times as far

  9. Ren checks a poster against the NASA distance table. Which sentence matches the table?

    • Mars is farther from the Sun than Jupiter
    • The inner planets are spread farther apart than the outer ones
    • The planets sit at about equal steps from the Sun
    • The outer planets are much farther apart than the inner ones

  10. Earth 12,756; Moon 3,475. Tala compares diameters in the NASA table. About how many times as wide as the Moon is Earth, to the nearest whole number?

    4

  11. Earth 12,756; Mercury 4,879. Zee lines up planet stickers by size. About how many times as wide as Mercury is Earth, to the nearest whole number?

    3

  12. Jupiter 142,984; Earth 12,756. Jupiter looks like a giant beach ball next to Earth on Esme's poster. About how many times as wide as Earth is Jupiter, to the nearest whole number?

    11