So you're probably wondering why I requested rolls of toilet paper..... well here it is!
This week we are learning about the planets of the Solar System as part of our reading story. To help us understand this difficult nonfiction text, we have been applying many different reading strategies. We've also incorporated a little Math to help us be able to visualze just how far each planet is from the sun.
Each group was in charge of a planet. The students had to count out the number of toilet paper squares their planet is from the sun. Next, they had to measure the distance (obviously scaled down) their planet was from the sun. Here are a few pictures.
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| First we counted out the number of sheets of toilet paper we needed to equal our planet's distance from the sun. |
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| Then we used a measuring tape to measure the length of toilet paper. |
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| Some planets took A LOT of counting! |
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| Neptune, the farthest planet from the sun, stretched the whole way across the gym!!! |
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| Uranus is the 7th planet from the sun and still REALLY far away. |
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| Saturn |
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| Jupiter |
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| Earth |
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| Venus |
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| Mercury...Although the distance looks really little, we learned that if you were traveling in a rocket that traveled 60,000 mph, it would take you 4 weeks to get from the sun to Mercury! WOW!! Knowing that, just think how far away Neptune is! |
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| Our plant model we hung from the ceiling to help us visualize the planets as we read. |
