Report Copyright Infringement View in OSM UK

Description

Activity taken from the Scouts website.
Use the contents of your fruit bowl to demonstrate the staggering size of the planets in our solar system.
https://www.scouts.org.uk/activities/create-a-fruit-salad-solar-system/

Resources

Bowls
Eight different fruits for each solar system (ideally raisins, blueberries, grapes, raspberries, grapefruits, oranges, small satsumas, and plums)
Clear jugs of water
Knives
Chopping boards
Skewers

Instructions

Before you begin
Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional help to carry out your risk assessment, including examples can be found here. Don’t forget to make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help if you’re short on helpers.

Setting up this activity
Put one of each fruit on a table or on the floor in the middle, so everyone can sit round it.
It’s best to lay the fruit out in a group, not a line, so that you can build a clear solar system line later.

Build a group solar system
Gather everyone around in a circle.
Everyone else should sit so that they can see the fruits. Everyone should try and name the planets in our solar system, in whatever order they like. It’s okay if people can’t remember them all.
The person leading the game should start with Mercury, as it’s closest to the sun. They should show the group what represents Mercury in the fruit salad solar system, which is the raisin. Place the raisin down in front of the other fruits, to one side, to start the solar system.
Ask people to name the next planet. Whoever guesses it correctly should be told the fruit that represents that planet and place that fruit in the line. Keep doing this for all the planets.
The planets and their fruits are Mercury (raisin) through Venus (blueberry), Earth (grape), Mars (raspberry), Jupiter (grapefruit), Saturn (orange), Uranus (small satsuma), and Neptune (plum).
Depending on what's available you may want to choose different or seasonal fruits.
The solar system shows how big the planets are compared to each other. However, it doesn’t show how far apart they are.

Build your own solar system
Ask everyone to get into groups, and give each group one of each fruit.
Each group should find a space, and set up their own Solar System.
They should try to remember the order of the fruit planets, but they can check if they need to.

Test the planets’ density
Gather everyone back together in a circle.
Fill two jugs with water.
Everyone should gather together into one group.
Take Jupiter (a grapefruit) and Saturn (an orange).
One person should stand behind each jug, holding either the grapefruit or orange.
Tell everyone that both of these planets are made of hydrogen, but one will float and the other will sink.
Ask people to point to the planet that they think will float.
The people behind the jugs should gently place the fruit planets on top of the water.
The grapefruit (Jupiter) should sink to the bottom of the vase or bowl. The orange (Saturn) should float on the water. This is because Jupiter’s gases are more densely packed (are squashed in closer together) than Saturn’s.

Use the fruit
Everyone should bring the fruit back together.
Ask everyone to wash their hands.
Each group should wash the fruit.
Next, with adult supervision, they should prepare it by peeling and chopping it.
People should take a skewer.
Next, pace one of each fruit on the skewer to represent each planet and create a mini solar system. You may want to have an adult supervise as people could chop each piece into the shape of the planet.

Tags

• astronomer - badge
• solar system

Badge Links

• Astronomer - Model or draw