The Solar System in 10 miles or less

Tower-Soudan seventh and eighth-grade students built a scale-model solar system, stretching from the 10-foot wide sun, in the school cafeteria, to a pin-sized Pluto, at the Vermilion Wellness Center, a distance of 9.4 miles. The students created their planets in art, while studying the solar system in Earth Science. The planets were all built to scale. The planets were on display for parent-teacher conferences, along with posters and artwork created in conjunction with the project. The actual distance between the sun and Pluto is 5.91 billion kilometers.

The display was a great learning experience for all involved, though Venus disappeared shortly after it was stuck out in Tower! "People thought it was pretty cool," said science teacher Ryan Lindsay. Pluto was included because as of the printing of the earth science textbook, it was still considered a planet. The controversy over whether or not Pluto actually was a planet was part of the lesson. The class also studied the life cycle of stars, and learned the fate of earth's sun- which in 4.5 billion years or so will become a Red Giant and engulf the first four planets in its orbit, including earth.

Lindsay said the art component of the joint lesson also included lessons on poster presentation. Sue Anderson worked with the students on designing posters with graphic impact. "Our posters were really great," Lindsay said.