Teaching article
Planet order is not a picture of equal distances
Use separate representations for order, relative size and distance.
Cards placed evenly along a wall can show sequence clearly while misrepresenting spacing. Label what the display is intended to communicate and keep questions about diameter or distance for a representation designed to address them.
Read the card labels against the current official sequence before arranging. Label the display's purpose so viewers do not infer unrepresented proportions.
Read the model's purpose first
Check the sequence. Arrange the cards. Label the model's limits.
Equally spaced cards can show order without representing actual distances.
Order does not imply equal spacing. What does this model represent?
Use a fixed reference strip.
Resources
- Solar System Planet Order — Use the sequence cards and add a note that spacing is not a distance scale.
Further reading
Read next
- A solar system model needs a scale statement
- Moon phases are not ordinary Earth-shadow events
- Constellation lines belong to the chart
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