Today's Classroom Activities :

Stars and Constellations

Classroom Stars
Science/Art Cover a bulletin board with black paper to represent the night sky. Have students make paper stars to use in building the constellations they see in the night sky. Align the bulletin board and label what would be true north, south, east and west as it looks when lying flat on the ground in your area. Go to www.astroleague.org for alignment assistance.

Constellations
The purpose of the activities is to strengthen the skills of visual perception, observation, and recording by using repetition of visual bulletin board displays of the North Polar Constellations and graphing those star patterns.

How Big Is That Star?
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to explain the relationship between radius and mass among a list of stars, how a binary star system's orbit can cause changes in the observed brightness of the system, and they will be able to determine the diameters of stars by analyzing data and manipulating equations.

Take Me to the Stars!
This activity helps students identify constellations in the night sky and understand the mythology related to the constellations. This works well with middle grade students but could be adapted both for upper and lower grades.

Star Light, Star Bright
The purpose of this lesson is for students to acquire information about the electromagnetic spectrum and how its interpretation enables scientists to gather information about the universe.

Stars
Students will recreate the life cycle of a star and then describe the life cycle of a star.

Make Your Own Constellation Myth
Students will become familiar with three constellations and the myths attached to them. Then students will create their own constellation and write a myth about their creation!

Map the Constellations
Students learn about stars and constellations and make guides to help them locate stars and constellations in the night sky.