Stars and Constellations

Today we started part one of our two part lesson on the stars and constellations. To start this lesson, the lights were turned out and the students were completly immersed within a physical representation of our night sky. Our classroom ceiling is completely covered in black fabric, allowing for the strategic placement of a constellation projector. Once turned on, the night sky lights up in front of our eyes.
This lesson then encompassed basic discussion of the location of the five circumpolar constellations (Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Cepheus, Cassiopeia and Draco) as well as the major stars within and around those consteallations, such as the North Star (Polaris), Vega and Betelgeuse.

Then, we used GoogleEarth and took advantage of their new outer space module. We traveled to all the constellations and stars we are to be discussing. This not only gave our students a fabulous experience with technology, but also gave them an awareness of where constellations are located in relation to each other.

Then we went back to working with our night sky projected above our heads. We traced an outline of the constellations and stars on our ceiling. This required some coordination on my part and sheetrock stilts. I ensure you, it was a good time had for all.

After tracing our constellations and stars that enveloped our whole classroom, we split up into our color groups and the students worked on crafting their own pictoral representation of the constellations and stars. Stop by the bulletin board outside our classroom door and check their illustrations out!

Tomorrow, we will begin part two of our lesson. In this lesson we will be looking at in depth photos of each constellation and star, and learn what makes up a star or a constellation.

Thanks for your continued support and efforts inside and outside the classroom. Take your children out to look for our newly learned constellations!