We're Doing the Same Math as Rocket Scientists?

In 6th grade, you start learning about space and rates. Now you might be wondering, "How do these connect?" Well, let me tell you, or better yet, show you! In space, we use a rate of 93,000,000 miles to 1 Astronomical Unit (AU) to measure the distance between the Sun and the Earth. Using this "simple" rate, we can determine how many AU each planet is from the Sun based on its distance in miles. Is this confusing yet? Don't worry, my students were confused until they started doing the math. After finding out the AU distances for all 8 planets, one of my students said, "Wow, that was tough; it felt like rocket science." I replied that this was essentially what rocket scientists have done in the past and can do in the future to determine distances between objects in space. I hadn't even finished my sentence when he practically jumped from his seat and shouted, "We're doing the same math rocket scientists do! WHAT! How awesome is that!" You can scroll through the pictures to see students figure out the AU's and use them to create a scale model of the Solar System. If you are interested in this resource, visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Thank you!