We’re going to do a concept map of the solar system here’s how you do that.
- First, get an 11×17 piece of paper. If you don’t have a piece that big you can make one by taping two 8.5×11 (that’s normal size) pieces together.
- Draw the Sun, the 8 planets and the asteroid belt as much to scale as possible (in terms of size and distance from the Sun) on the piece of paper.
Note: you CANNOT draw the solar system to scale and still expect it to be visible. But as you draw think about which planets are larger, which are smaller, which are tightly spaced and which are far from each other. And draw so that those relationships are visible.
- Now labeling, label everything you can possibly think of about each planet. We want this concept map to include everything any reasonable person could want to know about the solar system. Some things to think about.
Name
Period of rotation
Period of revolution
Jovian or terrestrial?
Distance from the sun
Atmosphere?
Size
Moons?
Rings?
- Anything interesting about that particular planet
Large volcanoes
Big red spots
Orbits on its side
Runaway greenhouse atmosphere
I’m not saying label it with these things, I’m saying label it with every possible thing you can think of. This should help you see and make sense of patterns in the solar system. Feel free to be creative, get some colored pencils and do it in color if you want. Draw little spaceships and aliens if you want. Have all the fun you want with it. The important thing is to get the information on there so you’ve worked with it, you can see it and your brain can assimilate it. (resistance is futile)
Sample Solution
