This activity demonstrates the relative sizes of the Earth and Moon, and the distance between them. The Moon is approximately 385,000 km away, and is our nearest neighbour. Its diameter is about 3500 km which means that the face of the Moon is roughly the same width as Australia.
Using modelling clay and balls of various types, students estimate and then calculate the relative sizes and diameters of the Earth and the Moon. They then follow the same procedure for the distance between the Earth and the Moon and graph their results.
What you need
- Download student activity (menu at right)
- Handful of modelling clay, plasticine or play-dough
- About 10 different types of balls (eg. basket balls, tennis balls, soccer balls)
- Ruler
- Calculator
- Graph paper
Image: http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/moon.html