This selection of Library of Congress primary sources explores the topic of models of the solar system and universe, including models by Ptolemy, Copernicus, Descartes, and Galileo.

This solar system distance scale utilizes sideways scrolling, partly to show just how big the solar system proper is, but also why it's impossible to show the planets to scale on a poster. (Use your arrow keys to scroll.) 

Out of the Big Bang came everything in the Universe. All of the matter that formed Earth, all of the materials that formed the stars and galaxies that light up the night sky, and all of the building blocks for everything in the Universe were once contained in a tiny singularity. Through observations of models, in this unit students will develop an understanding of evidence (cosmic background radiation and red shift) that has led scientists to their current understanding of the Universe’s origin.

This unit includes a performance task, Regents-aligned questions, and is organized into inquiry-based 5E model plans.