We've begun our Astronomy lessons using the Apologia text and Notebooking Journal and last week we made the planets out of balloons and hung them from our ceiling.  This suggested activity was done after we read the first chapter in the book.  I think my children had more fun blowing up the balloons and releasing them to watch them fly all over the room during the lesson, however!   But, we now know the relative size of each planet compared to other planets and the order of the planets from the sun.

Here are the balloon planets lined up in order from the sun.The sun is the big white balloon in the left corner then there is Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.  We will read in Lesson 12 about the controversy over whether or not Pluto is really a planet.  

My children labeled each planet and this is the "sun" though it's hard to read the word because of the glare.  We read today that 1 million earths would fit inside the sun.  I knew the sun was big, but I had no idea that it was that big!  And did you know that Earth is 92,935,700 miles away from the sun?  Another fact that we learned today was that the sun is usually about 10,000 degrees on the outside and millions of degrees on the inside!  My kids and I found this information fascinating!  It is fun learning all these interesting facts with my children during our homeschool days!

Some of the balloon planets look deflated and very small, but it was very difficult to blow up a balloon and make it 1 inch around like the planet Mercury!  But, at least we have a visual reminder of the relative size of each planet compared to the others. My children and I are gaining a deeper appreciation for just how perfect God made the solar system.  It is truly amazing how the universe was made and we look forward to learning more about our Creator and his wonders as we continue our Astronomy lessons! 
Hallelujah!