Wednesday, October 28 Dr. Erika Grundstrum

What Is A Star?
Familiar Constellations

Targeted Audience: students in grades 4 - 12
[REMEMBER that all students should prepare questions to ask presenter during videoconference.]

Join Dr. Erika Grundstrum as she discusses "What is a Star?/Familiar Constellations” and explains that constellations are groups of stars that can be seen in the night sky. People draw imaginary lines between the stars to make pictures of animals, people or things, using the stars much like a dot-to-dot picture. Each picture is a constellation. This is similar to looking for objects in clouds in the sky.

OBJECTIVES:

Students will:

• "Connect the dots" to form constellations from stars
• Locate and identify the major constellations
• Research and understand simple scientific data
• Make guides to help them locate stars and constellations in the night sky

VOCABULARY:

• Astronomer - a person who studies the sky
• Constellation - a shape in the sky, made by connecting stars
• Hemisphere - half of the Earth
• Light-year - the distance light travels in one year (9,458,000,000,000 kilometers)
• Magnitude - a number that describes how bright a star appears. Smaller numbers mean brighter stars.

What do your students see when you look up at the night sky? A jumbled mass of stars? The Big Dipper? Do they know the difference between a planet and a star? In this videoconference, your students can begin to uncover the mysteries of the night sky, spend more time outdoors, and start to enjoy a new hobby—stargazing!

Join Dr. Erika Grundstrum as she discusses "Stars and Constellations” and explains that constellations are groups of stars that can be seen in the night sky. People draw imaginary lines between the stars to make pictures of animals, people or things, using the stars much like a dot-to-dot picture. Each picture is a constellation. This is similar to looking for objects in clouds in the sky.

The purpose of the activities is to strengthen the skills of visual perception, observation, and recording by observing North Polar Constellations and drawing these star patterns. After the videoconference, students will better locate and identify major constellations in the night sky.

As the sun sets and the first stars begin to shimmer in the twilight, people everywhere will look up to the sky. Cultures from around the world have shaped our views of the heavenly lights we see. For example, many of the star names in use today have origins in Arabic—Rigel, the bright blue star in the constellation of Orion, translates into “the foot,” and Deneb, a prominent yet very distant star in the constellation Cygnus, means “tail of the hen.” We can thank the ancient Greeks for our modern system of 88 constellations and the Romans for many of their names.

Begin by checking student knowledge about constellations. They have most likely heard of a few of the most famous constellations, like Orion or the Big Dipper. (The Big Dipper is not strictly a constellation). Students may have misconceptions that constellations are real astronomical groups of stars, or that all stars in constellations are the same.
This lesson will show students what constellations are, and that they will find their own constellations. A constellation is group of stars like a dot-to-dot puzzle. If you join the dots--stars, that is--and use lots of imagination, the picture would look like an object, animal, or person. For example, Orion is a group of stars that the Greeks thought looked like a giant hunter with a sword attached to his belt.

Show students a picture of the constellation of Orion. Point out Orion's shoulders, knees, and belt on the picture. Ask students if they can see the hunter. As students read the table of stars, point out each star on a picture of Orion. Make sure that students notice that the stars, which look similar, have different magnitudes and distances.

Other than making a pattern in Earth's sky, these stars may not be related at all. For example, Alnitak, the star at the left side of Orion's belt, is 817 light years away. (A light year is the distance light travels in one Earth year, almost 6 trillion miles!) Alnilam, the star in the middle of the belt, is 1340 light years away. And Mintaka at the right side of the belt is 916 light years away. Yet they all appear from Earth to have the same brightness.
Even the closest star is almost unimaginably far away. Because they are so far away, the shapes and positions of the constellations in Earth's sky change very, very slowly. During one human lifetime, they change hardly at all. So, since humans first noticed the night sky they have navigated by the stars. Sailors have steered their ships by the stars.
Star patterns are very helpful for navigating a spacecraft.  Even the Apollo astronauts going to the Moon had to know how to navigate by the stars in case their navigation instruments failed. Most spacecraft have steered by the stars--or at least checked the stars once in a while to make sure the spacecraft was still on course and pointed in the right direction.

When students read about other shapes in Orion, ask them if they can see the deer, soldier, or kimono. As they read about other constellations, ask if they can see the crown in Corona or the microscope in Microscopium.
We see different views of the Universe from where we live as Earth makes its yearly trip around the solar system. That is why we have a different Star Finder for each month, as different constellations come into view. Also, as Earth rotates on its axis toward the east throughout the hours of the night, the whole sky seems to shift toward the west.

Pre-Activity:  Make a constellation guide from an empty soft drink can.
Materials: Individual Star Charts; straight pins; a clean, empty soft drink can for each student; hole punch such as an awl or a nail.
For Star Charts go to this link:  www.wunderground.com/sky/index.asp
Enter the zip code where you will be star gazing. You can also use the search box at the top of the page to locate your U.S. city or international city. An interactive star chart for any day and time will be drawn for you.  You can print copies for your students.
1) Provide each student with a star chart and discuss the constellations.
2) Have students use straight pins to make holes in charts at each major star in the constellations. Then have them turn their charts over and connect the dots to form the shape of each constellation. The constellations will be backward.
3) Using the holes in a star chart as a guide, punch holes in the bottom of empty soft drink cans.
4) Students can look through the cans -- with flashlights, if necessary -- to locate the constellations in the sky. When viewed through the cans, the constellations are correctly placed. The students learn that spotting stars is easier when they have a reference to use.

Post-Activities:
1) Tape a copy of a monthly star chart onto a large piece of black construction paper. 
For Star Charts go to this link:  www.wunderground.com/sky/index.asp
Enter the zip code where you will be star gazing. You can also use the search box at the top of the page to locate your U.S. city or international city. An interactive star chart for any day and time will be drawn for you.  You can print copies for your students.
Create a “star lab" by punching out the stars in the constellations using the point on a compass. After all the constellations are identified, place the chart on the overhead (making sure the black paper covers the top surface) and project the "star lab" onto a wall. Students may use a laser pointer to highlight a specific constellation and share several facts they have learned from research. 

2) Students can find out what’s happening in the sky each month and how to see it with their own eyes by using star charts!
For Star Charts go to this link:  www.wunderground.com/sky/index.asp
Enter the zip code where you will be star gazing. You can also use the search box at the top of the page to locate your U.S. city or international city. An interactive star chart for any day and time will be drawn for you.  You can print copies for your students.
Observation Tips:
Here are some tips that will help your students have an enjoyable observing experience:

• With a few exceptions—like meteor showers—most things in backyard astronomy take a while. Be patient!
• Try to observe the same object at different times. It may have a different appearance depending on how high or low it is in the sky.
• Watch the news or read the newspaper for the latest weather forecasts and observe only when conditions are clear. It should not be too cloudy, windy, or humid. You should also avoid nights when the moon is very bright.
• Choose a location that is safe but as far as possible from streetlights and house lights. Observe with friends and relatives.
• If possible, sit back on a lawn chair or lie on a blanket so you can look up at the sky. Don’t forget to bring along your favorite bug repellent!
• Allow your eyes several minutes to start adjusting to the darkness and at least 30-45 minutes to really adjust. Your eyes will naturally become more sensitive to light as time passes.
• If you are using equipment, like a telescope or binoculars, allow plenty of time for the instruments to slowly adjust to the air temperature. If condensation forms on a lens, do not wipe it off! This could scratch the lens. Let the condensation evaporate on its own.
• Take along a flashlight to read star charts in the dark. Cover the lens of the flashlight with a piece of red cellophane (red light interferes the least with night vision), and turn off the flashlight when you’re not using it.
• Decide what you want to observe and fill out as much of the observation log as you can before you go outside. In addition to the observing calendar provided here, consult a newspaper or astronomy software to determine the rising and setting times of the sun, moon, and planets.

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This page is last modified on October 26, 2009