This game is an impressionistic lesson on the distances of the planets from the Sun. Students will do a tremendous amount of work, representing how far the students would have to travel to get from the Sun to the planets in the Solar System. This lesson will create a lasting impression of the great distances between the planets through the effort exerted during the lesson. In addition, this lesson involves so much running that you can observe your student's running gait properly.

There will be a racing component at the beginning of this lesson. For some, this may cause anxiety over direct competition, but others will enjoy it. However, the racing component of this lesson will evenly match up students so that the races are close. It will also highlight that for many students, adding that little bit of competition will actually improve their times from when they ran alone. This lesson will highlight a positive aspect of competition: that it can increase the performance of the individual. If the student lost the race but ran faster than before, did they really lose?

Materials: 

·      An ample open space (such as a gym or field)

·      Stopwatch

·      Clipboard, paper (attendance sheet works well), pencil

Minimum Amount of Students Needed: This lesson is versatile. It can be done with only one person or many people simultaneously.

Age: Best with lower elementary, but works with upper elementary too.