Middle School Students Travel Through the Solar System

Just how far is the Earth from the sun, and can you visualize it? Students in Ethan Vedder’s eighth-grade science class got to see for themselves in a one-billionth-scale model of the solar system he created on the OES campus.

The solar system walk started at the bridge across Fanno Creek at the entrance to OES, where a large yellow model of the sun was on display. From there, it was a relatively short stroll to Mercury, the smallest planet in the solar system.

Vedder explained that an atmosphere helps protect a planet.  “An atmosphere is like blankets,” he said. “They help regulate the planet’s temperature.” The students agreed that Mercury, with no atmosphere and at such a short distance from the sun, would be very hot—though conversely, its dark side would be extremely cold. “Mercury’s temperature ranges from 400°C on the side of the planet facing the sun to almost -200°C on the side facing away from the sun,” said Vedder, which is 800ºF to -260ºF.

A bit farther down the sidewalk was Venus. Roughly the same size as Earth, and made of the same material, Venus is much hotter and less hospitable to life due to the large amount of carbon dioxide in its atmosphere.

About halfway between the bridge and the pond lay Earth, which Vedder had colored green. “Why do you think it’s green?” he asked the students. “Because of the water—no, because of the trees!” were the answers. Earth has life because it has water, and the right temperature to sustain life because of our atmosphere.

Mars, the red planet, was the next stop on the tour. The students knew about NASA’s exploration of Mars and asked about sending humans to Mars. We haven’t sent any people to Mars yet, Vedder explained. However, NASA has conducted simulated missions to Mars, with humans living in a controlled environment for a year. One aspect of the mission included a fifteen-minute delay in sending and receiving electronic messages, due to the great distance from Earth to Mars.

One of the next models on display was Jupiter, which is a giant compared to the inner planets. Students might not have known that it has a storm on its surface that is twice the width of Earth and has raged for over 400 years.

There was some lively discussion about Pluto, which used to be known as a planet but in 2006 was reclassified as a dwarf planet. “Pluto hasn’t officially been a planet since before you were born,” Vedder said. (The main reason for this is because other objects could cross Pluto’s orbit. A planet must orbit the sun, must be massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity and have cleared the area around its orbit.)

The remaining planets in the simulation are too far away to walk to during a single class. Jupiter would be across Scholls Ferry Road, in roughly the Broadmoor neighborhood. Saturn would be at the Jesuit campus, Uranus would be in Beaverton, and Neptune would be at the Oregon Zoo.

Some of the eighth-graders shared why they like learning about the solar system:

“I like knowing that gravity attracts all of us to each other,” said Stella Z.

“My favorite thing to learn was that every time we take a step, we move the earth,” shared Finley S.

“I liked learning that the whole universe was squeezed into one tiny thing,” said Sana K.

“One thing I liked learning was how our solar system was formed, and how young it is compared to the rest of the universe,” said Mia S.