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The beginning of a typical solar system "unit" in a traditional introductory astronomy course often consists of an overview of the different object types--planets, moons, and debris (asteroids, comets, and meteors), and now also Pluto's home, the Kuiper belt--prior to coverage of formation and more detail about the various object types. An important distinction that needs to be made prior to coverage of solar system formation or discussions of individual planets is between the two planet types: the Earth-like or "terrestrial" planets, and the Jupiter-like or "Jovian" planets. The following is a description of an activity designed to establish these categories through conclusions drawn by students after a guided analysis of planetary data.

The idea of sending students and the general public on a walk through a scale model of the solar system in an attempt to instill an appreciation of the relative scales of the sizes of the objects compared to the immense distances between them is certainly not new. A good number of such models exist, including one on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., starting at the Smithsonian Air and Space museum. A pioneering model and inspiration for our own is on the campus of the University of Colorado in Boulder, and there are others. Those at science museums are often used by the general public and field-trip groups, while the ones on college campuses are also used by students of introductory astronomy.