June 22, 2001
A Concrete Experience in Orbital Mechanics by a First Grade Class
And they're off!
While half of a first grade class at Alvin Elementary School in Santa Maria, CA traversed to the rhythm of the solar system, the other half of the class acted as observing scientists (lower left inset: scientists watching as "Pluto" passes).
Orbits had been drawn in chalk on the playground surface in preparation for the celestial event. With one child labeled "SUN" standing firmly in the center, nine other children each labeled as one of the nine planets took their gravity-bound places in a straight line out from the sun and on their own orbit (upper right inset). At the signal, they began orbiting, walking heel-to-toe to keep orbital velocities reasonably even (main picture, upper left inset, and lower right inset).
The observing scientists were amazed to see how quickly the planets abandoned any straight line arrangement. They were equally astonished by how many times the inner planets "got around" compared to the outer planets. On this day in the life of a solar system, "Mercury" went around 25 times for every 1 orbit by "Pluto"!
Active simulation of billions of miles of astronomical movement is grueling work. A weary class went back to their room to put the finishing touches on their space stations.
And to take a well-deserved breather!
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