Paper Plate Education
"Serving the Universe on a Paper Plate"

Activity: Planetarium Planet Plot

The following text was written by Jeanne Bishop as part of a series of in-planetarium lesson plans. Used with permission.

2. PLOT OF A PLANET'S MOTION. White paper plate, two different-colored markers, round yellow sticker: Mark the plate with N, S, E, and W while holding it overhead. The middle part of the plate represents the sky. Go forward to dawn. Put the yellow sticker beside the "sky" area of the plate in the direction it is rising. Find the positions of the planets Jupiter and Venus. Make a dot for Jupiter with one color and put "J" beside it. Draw Venus with the other color and put "V" beside it. Put a "1" beside each dot. Move the planetarium time to dawn in two weeks. Add the new positions of Jupiter and Venus with marker dots. Put a "2" beside each dot. Again move planetarium time to dawn another two weeks. Add the new positions of Jupiter and Venus. Put a "3" beside each dot. Connect the dots of the same color. Discuss how the planets have moved in the sky. Tell that the word planet means "wanderer." Ask the children why that name was given. (We moved across the hall to the room with the tables.)

Contributed by Jeanne Bishop.

GLPA Proceedings, 1993, p. 35.

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