Human Solar System Orbits

The class acts out the solar system in motion: one student is the Sun, and planet groups travel their orbits around it, moving faster the closer they are. Students practice traveling with control of speed and pathway, and feel the difference between rotation and revolution with their bodies.

How to play

1. Use cones or chalk to mark 8 circles around a center point, from about 10 feet across for the first one to about 80 feet for the last. The Sun stands in the middle holding a yellow card (3 min).
2. Make 8 groups of 3, each with its planet card, from Mercury to Neptune. Each group lines up single file on its orbit.
3. On the whistle, planets revolve counterclockwise: Mercury and Venus run, Earth and Mars jog, Jupiter and Saturn speed-walk, and Uranus and Neptune walk slowly (3 min).
4. Stop and ask who made the most laps and why. Then repeat, adding rotation: each planet spins slowly as it travels (3 min).
5. Groups rotate outward, so Mercury moves to Neptune and everyone tries different orbits; do this twice (5 min).
6. Final game: the teacher calls a clue, such as "the red planet" or "the biggest planet," and everyone runs to that orbit (4 min).

Rules

• Stay on your own orbit, and everyone travels in the same direction.
• To change orbits, walk across and look around first.
• Rotation spins are slow so nobody gets dizzy.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the student can be the Sun, who starts each round, or travel a shorter inner orbit at their own pace.
• Visual impairment: mark their orbit with rope on the ground or tightly spaced cones, and add a sighted guide.
• Fitness level: students who need an easier pace pick the outer planets, which walk.

Learning goals

• Tell the difference between revolution and rotation.
• Travel in circular pathways while controlling speed.
• Connect a planet's distance from the Sun with the length of its year.

Equipment for a class of 25

• cones: 40
• cardstock: 9
• chalk: 4

Teacher tip

The orbits are not to scale; point that out and mention Neptune would be far beyond the school. Pair it with the science unit and have each group share one fact about its planet before starting.

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