STORIES THAT STARS TELL

OBJECTIVES:

      .  Students will discover the origins of myths.

      .  Students will explore and examine Greek constellations and the mythology

         associated with them.

      .  Students will create their own constellation pattern and write a myth to go with it

         explaining how the star pattern got into the night sky.

RELATION TO MISSOURI FRAMEWORKS:

SC 6  Composition and structure of the universe and the motions within it

SS 7  The use of tools of social science inquiry (such as surveys, statistics, maps,

          documents)

CA 1  Speaking and writing Standard English

CA 4  Writing formally and informally

CA 7  Identifying and evaluating relationships between language and culture

G1.5

G1.6

G2.1

G2.3

G2.5

CONTEXT:

     Grade Level 5

     Group of 15-25 for STARLAB Presentation

PREREQUISITE:

     Students should have some knowledge of constellations.

MATERIALS:

     STARLAB Portable Planetarium                     Red Covered Flashlight

     Starfield Cylinder                                             Arrow Pointer

     Greek Mythology Cylinder                               4”X4” Black Paper

     Copies of Greek Mythological Stories             Gold Sticky Stars

PROCEDURE:

1.      After entering the STARLAB planetarium, project a starfield from the Starfield   

     Cylinder and ask students if they have ever stared up at the stars and picked out shapes 

     and figures.

2.      Explain to students that throughout history, people have looked at the stars and used

      their imaginations to form pictures.  Ask if anyone knows what name is given to a

      grouping of stars that create a picture.  (Constellation)

3.      Challenge students to look for and point out shapes or patterns that they see.  Ask

      students what these patterns remind them of.

4.      Switch cylinder to the Greek Mythology Cylinder.  Explain to the students that each constellation has an incredible story behind it that was created centuries ago.  The ancient Greeks had an imaginary world of their own inhabited by gods and goddesses.  They immortalized people, animals, and objects by imagining them in the sky.  Allow students time to observe the Greek characters on the cylinder.

5.      Using the pointer, show students several of the more known constellations such as Draco, Cassiopeia, Cygnus, Cepheus, and Orion.  Share with them the mythology associated with the constellations.

6.      Tell students that when they leave the planetarium, they will be creating their own constellations and myths.

7.      In the classroom, give students a 4”X4” piece of black construction paper and 8-10 gold sticky stars.  Have students drop the stars onto the construction paper.  The stars must be stuck exactly where they fell.  Next have the students connect the stars with white crayon lines creating a “new” constellation.  Discuss the patterns with the students.

8.      The students will now create their own myths about their “new” constellation to share with the class.  When writing their myths, students will name their constellation and describe how their star pattern got into the night sky.

9.      Conclude the lesson by having each child show their constellation and read their myth to the class.

EXTENSIONS AND/OR ADAPTATIONS:

     .  Study the mythologies of other cultures such as Native Americans, Chinese,

        African, and Ancient Egyptians.

     .  Make film canister constellations.

CONTENT BACKGROUND:

     Most ancient cultures saw pictures in the stars of the night sky.  The earliest known efforts to catalogue stars dates back 6000 years ago.  The constellations as we know them today are very different from those that were first seen.  Our night sky is composed of 88 images from a number of different societies both ancient and modern.  Today we owe the greatest debt to the mythology of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

APPENDIX:

     None         

REFERENCES:

      .  Astronomy and More:  A Comprehensive Curriculum and User’s Guide for the

         STARLAB and Other Planetaria,  Learning Technologies, Inc.  1997

     .  http://www.emutarm.org/~cmbell/myth/myth.html