This lab sheet walks grades 3-6 homeschoolers through making a model of the solar system using foam balls or clay, wooden skewers, paint, and a black poster board base. Students research planet order, choose a scale (the sheet suggests 1 cm equals roughly 1,000 km), paint each planet to size, mount them on skewers, and arrange the finished model from Sun to Neptune. The observations section asks which planet was largest, which was smallest, and how the physical model changed their understanding of the solar system.

Making a model of the solar system fits naturally into an astronomy unit study or a broader solar system sequence covering planet characteristics, orbital distance, and comparative size. Your student demonstrates scientific thinking by writing a hypothesis, identifying variables (scale, materials, planet order), and evaluating that hypothesis in the conclusion. The sheet stands alone as a single hands-on session or anchors a multi-day unit where additional research, planet fact cards, or scale distance activities extend the learning.