Constellations

After talking about where WE are in the world and beyond (Earl Beatty, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Planet Earth, the Universe) We talked about the sun and stars. We talked about how important the sun is to our planet (for heat and light). Then we talked about how most of the stars that we see in the sky are other suns. That seemed a bit unbelievable to most of the students, so we just settled on "stars are stars" .

Then we talked about stars and groups of stars that they know. We started with the Big Dipper ("It looks like a spoon". "No, it doesn't, it looks like a pot"). We talked a bit about how stars could be used for navigation (to help us find our way) ("Like a map in the sky" someone said "Yes! Just like that" ) But the concept of the "map in the sky" is still a bit difficult to grasp, so we were back to "stars are stars, and they make pictures in the sky".

So we made our own constellations. We cheated a bit (a lot) by drawing the lines first, then putting the stars up in our skies..... They look pretty spectacular up in our classroom -- especially when we turn the lights off. They don't glow in the dark, but with the lights off, you can't see the lines -- just the stars and the shapes that they make! Constellations!