STAR STORIES
OBJECTIVES:
After completing the lesson, students will be able to:
1.
locate constellations
2.
identify constellations
RELATION
TO MISSOURI FRAMEWORKS:
K-4: VA3 Constellations are patterns of stars
CONTEXT:
Grade 2-6
Groups of 15-25 for StarLab presentations
PREREQUISITE:
Students have prior knowledge of constellations and how to identify them.
MATERIALS:
StarLab Portable Planetarium
Starfield Cylinder
Urban Cylinder
Arrow pointer
PROCEDURE:
1.
Before you go in the starlab go over
with the children the rules of the procedure.
Have the following on a poster outside of the starlab:
RULES for Entering
the Starlab
a.
NO SHOES
b.
NO RUNNING
c.
NO TALKING WHILE THE PRESENTATION IS
BEING CONDUCTED
d.
SIT AWAY FROM THE SIDE OF THE LAB, SIT
ONLY WHERE YOU ARE INSTRUCTED
e.
DO NOT TOUCH THE LAB WALLS
f.
NO CANDY OR GUM
2.
Seat
the children in the starlab and remind them of the rules.
3.
Tell the children that you are going to
turn down the lights and it will be a few minutes until their eyes will become
adjusted to the dark. While they are waiting for this to happen start the
lesson.
4.
While the lights are off start by
saying, “ Our ancestors studied the night sky and saw shapes and patterns
among the stars. They often made up
stories to explain what they saw. These
also helped them to know where to locate them in the sky. In today’s activity you will learn not only learn the
shapes of seven prominent constellations but also how to find them in a night
sky fill with other stars.
5.
Turn on the projector and let the
students have a few minutes to look at the starfield cylinder. Then turn on the rotator and give the students a few minutes
to watch the full sky of stars.
6.
Ask
the students, “ Can you find any constellations?”
7.
Tell the students that it is difficult
to identify constellations due to (a) not knowing the shape or picture of the
constellation or (b) knowing the shape and not being able to find it mixed in
with all of the other stars.
8.
This is why I have a cylinder that has
fewer stars on it. This is how you
would see them in the urban, or city with many lights on. The lights tend to fade out a few stars.
9.
I think you will like the difference.
10.
Change the cylinder to the urban
constellation, turn the rotator off and dim the lights slowly. Change it and
slowly turn the lights back on.
11.
I
thought that you would like the difference.
You may want to shut your eyes when I move the stars, this time it will
be faster and it sometimes make you sick to see them moved so quickly.
12.
Many
of you can find one constellation, the Big Dipper.
13.
Let’s
find the Big Dipper, it is one of the brightest and easiest of all to
find. Now concentrate on the
two stars that form the end of the dipper’s cup. Imagine a straight line
connecting the two of them. If you were to extend the line away from the dipper to the
next bright star, it almost exactly intersects Polaris, the North Star – the
star at the end of the Little Dipper. We
now have located the Big Dipper, the North Star, and Polaris by finding the Big
Dipper.
14.
The purpose of the two dippers is to
have water fall out of them so that Draco the dragon can hide from his hunters
and his wife.
15.
As
he is resting in his place, he notices that a juicy swan is flying by him.
16.
He
decides to come out and go after the swan.
17.
This
is when you start to show them the constellation of Draco, the dragon.
Start with his tail coming out from between the dippers, and then follow
around and up to find his head.
18.
You
go over the Big Dipper, the Polaris, the Little Dipper and then finally
Draco.
19.
Now
you want to show the students the juicy swan, which is not very far from the
head of the dragon, thus is his dinner, Cygnus the swan. Start at Draco’s mouth and go directly over to the stars
that look like a cross. This is the
Northern Cross or Cygnus the Swan.
20.
Draco hears his master, Hercules
coming. Draco’s head is next to
the foot of Hercules.
21.
Hercules tells Draco to stop chasing
the swan and to go home. To find
his home you need to find the chest stars of Draco and go directly to the first
star that is almost directly under it. This
is considered to be the front door of home.
His home is made up of the star constellation, Cepheus, the King.
22.
You need to review from the start of
the story and end with Cepheus.
23.
When
Draco’s wife sees him coming home without any food she leaves the house
through the back door and head to McDonald’s for some food.
24.
Ask the students what is the first
letter in the word wife they should be able to tell you that it is a W.
25.
This is the last constellation for them
to learn and this is the W or Cassiopeia.
26.
Then you review the story from start to
end, the Big Dipper, Polaris, the Little Dipper, Draco, Cygnus, Hercules, the
house- Cepheus, and the wife – Cassiopeia.
27.
Ask for a volunteer to tell the story,
then another. Repeat this
several times.
28.
Ask them if the sky stands still or
does it rotate? Tell them to shut
their eyes so that the sky can rotate and see if anyone can find the stars and
tell the story.
29.
Ask
if they remembered the sky full of stars. Ask
if they think they can find the stars there now.
30.
Slowly lower the lights, change the
cylinders, and ask them if they see the star constellations now?
31.
Ask
for a volunteer to tell the story.
REFERENCE:
Curriculum Associates, Inc., Earth Science Activities (KSAM)
EXTENSIONS
AND/OR ADAPTATIONS:
1.
Have student to look up information in
appropriate sources regarding constellations.
They might find the meaning of constellation names to be especially
interesting.
2.
Have student find constellations and
have them make up their own story to help find the constellations.
CONTENT
BACKGROUND:
Different cultures make up different stories to tell what they
saw up in the heavens and how to find them.
Stories are elaborate and simple.
They are what each culture hold true, dear, and sacred.
Some examples of stories and pictures of the following are found at the
website:
http://www.windows.umich.edu
Ursa Major – the Bear-
the Big Dipper - In the Navajo myth, Ursa Major,
the Great Bear, originated from the story of the Changing
Bear Maiden.
Draco the Dragon -
Draco the dragon is famous throughout mythology. This great beast was especially
present in Greek myth.
Cygnus – the Swan – For the Greeks, the constellation
Cygnus, which means “swan”, was related to the myth of Zeus and the goddess
Nemesis.
Hercules – Two thousand years ago, Greek
people believed that a group of stars represent the figure of Heracles, a famous
Greek hero. The Romans called him
Hercules.
Cepheus – Cepheus is the king of Ethiopia
and his wife Cassiopeia.
WEB
SITES: