Solar System Puzzle Kit
Produced by NASA, this activity contains information about the planets of the solar system. The main activity allows students to create an eight-cube paper puzzle of the solar system.
In assembling the puzzle, students colour images of the Sun, planets and asteroids. In addition to puzzle pieces, the kit contains interesting facts about the Sun, each of the planets, asteroids and comets.
By producing and viewing the puzzle’s twelve sides, students will reinforce their knowledge of the worlds that make up our solar system.
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Resource author
Resource by: NASA
Collections
The resource is part of ESERO-UK
- ESERO-UK
- Solar System and the Planets
- Solar System Puzzle Kit
Comments
Although in principle this kit seemed like something worth trying out, the truth was that it was immensely time-consuming to cut out and prepare and soon became a thankless task rather than an enjoyable learning experience.
The tools required (including razor-sharp craft knives) mean that this is not for younger folk to make themselves - and the steadiness-of-hand needed to execute carefully the straight cuts lead to a number of failures and more sheets of card needing to be printed.
I did try the 'Alternate Construction Technique' of gluing the squares of card onto the sides of wooden cubes. However, trying to cut cubes and card so that they match in size is nigh-impossible, so each face needed to be hand-trimmed to make it fit. This labour of love took several hours for me as an adult, without interruption, and I was very glad when I had finished - just the one set, mind you!
As for the information on the squares, I had long since bored of reading it early into my construction project and there was nothing new that didn't already exist in hundreds of books and webpages out there already.
The 'Activities and Questions' were appropriate for the cubes, but could easily be answered without having to go through the tortuous procedure of constructing the cubes in the first place.
Alas, I cannot recommend the cubes as an educational resource, unless you can get someone else to make them for you! I would also get them to make you the wooden-cube version, if only to guarantee they last longer than a single use.
'Assembly gets easier with practice!' - so it claims in the instructions...
Good luck.