Date of Lesson: April 20, 2009 Time: 1:30 – 2:45 Length of Lesson: 60 minutes Assessment Length: 20 minutes
Curriculum Area: Science Content Area: Earth Science
Title of Lesson (Identifying Concepts Taught): The Constellations
Age/Grade Level: 6 Teacher’s Name: Courtney Osborne
1. Learning Objectives (taken from the essential questions):
a) The students will be able explain what constellations are and name the circumpolar constellations and where they are located in the night sky. The students will also be able to explain where the following winter constellations are located: Canis Minor, Canis Major, Orion and Taurus.
b) The students will be able to explain why the Earth’s movements affect what you see in the sky and why we cannot see every constellation in the sky on every night.
c) The students will be able to explain the mythology surrounding the circumpolar constellations.
2. New York State Learning Standards:
Standard 4 – Science – The Physical Setting
Key Idea 1 - The Earth and celestial phenomena can be described by principles of relative motion and perspective
3. Materials:
Diagrams of the night sky, circumpolar constellations and winter constellations.
White string, white balls, different shapes and sizes.
Cardboard cut in various different shapes.
4. Lesson Process:
A) Engage/ Introduction - 10 minutes
Review of the solar system and the planets.
I will ask the following questions:
What is the sun? A star
How many planets are there in our solar system? 9 planets
Can someone name the planets (perhaps here randomly call on students and see if they can each name the next planet and go in order)
What is the largest thing object in the solar system? The sun
What do real stars look like? They are points of light not star shaped objects – Stars are really hot, huge, spheres of hydrogen and helium gas which are producing their own energy. Because they are so far away, they appear to be faint and very small. The exception to this of course is the sun which is very close to the Earth.
B) Explore – 10 minutes
Before handing out the diagrams I will ask the students if they know any famous constellations. The most common will be named however the Big and Little Dippers are not constellations. They are asterisms, groups of stars as famous as constellations but not recognized by the International Astronomical Union, a worldwide body of professional astronomers.
The students will be able to look at the diagram (handout and website) of the entire night sky as they explore the night sky. The students will talk about constellations in groups, no more than 4, and how most of them take a great deal of imagination to be seen correctly. There are 88 constellations total.
http://content.telescope.com/rsc/img/catalog/lc/starcharts/04Apr09StarChart_clr.pdf
C) Explain – 30 minutes
The students will be given the diagrams of the circumpolar and the winter night sky constellations.
We will discuss the reasons why you cannot see all of the constellations all of the time because of the time of the year and the way the Earth is shifted.
We will discuss why constellations were used thousands of years ago and the mythology surrounding them. Students will need to take notes on this as they will be tested. No handout is provided.
Thousands of years ago constellations were a source of entertainment. These were pictures in the sky which people could tell stories from. The position of some of the stars, thought to be gods by some, were said to have influential powers on nations and human conditions. This belief has lead to misconceptions of astrologers in today’s times. See attached mythology stories.
D) Extend, Expand, Elaborate – 25 minutes
Option A: Students will be assigned one constellation and need to make that constellation from string (to show pattern) white balls (to show stars) and placed (glued) on cardboard. Students will need to show the size of the white balls in relation to all stars in the constellation. Students will also need to know in what part of the sky their constellation is located and label it correctly and also design their “sky” in an appropriate way.
Option B: CONSTELLATIONS IN A CAN: Take the flip side of a soda can, pasting or drawing the constellation of your choice onto its surface. With a hammer and different sized nails (for the different brightness’s of the stars), punch out holes for your constellation. Add a small flashlight shining into the can from the pop top side, and a dark room with a white ceiling or screen, and presto, you've got some nifty constellation projectors. This probably would even work better using soup cans, but watch out for those sharp edges. Large paper cups are also an option.
E) Evaluation/ Assessment – 20 minute – done on a different day
Students complete 2 page constellation quiz.
Differentiation chart - attached
5. Assessment of Lesson – attached
6. Student work - Attached
7. Learning Center – N/A
If a student gets done quickly with work a word search is provided along with a game on the computer. (http://www.kidsastronomy.com/astroskymap/constellation_hunt.htm)
8. References:
http://www.astronomy.org/programs/constellations.html
http://www.science –teachers.com
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/astroskymap/constellation_hunt.htm
http://content.telescope.com/rsc/img/catalog/lc/starcharts/04Apr09StarChart_clr.pdf
Title: The Constellations
Size:The learner will not need to complete all of the constellations completely; perhaps the learner will need to complete 6 depending on the circumstances. / Time:
The learner will have extra time to complete the constellation notes. / Level of Support:
The learner will have an increased level of support during or after the lesson if needed either by myself, an aide or by another student.
Input:
The learner will be able to use a personal computer in the classroom so that they can adjust the speed in which he/she goes through the constellations or perhaps even be able to print out the information ahead of time for the learner. / Difficulty:
Depending on the learner, taking notes may be too difficult. / Output:
The learner may need to type out the words.
Participation:
The learner may not be able to participate in making the individual models because that may be too much stimulation for him/her. Instead he/she will need to find a quiet spot and do a worksheet or the constellation game on the computer. / Alternate Goals:
Instead of taking the quiz the learner may need to be asked the questions and have a conversation with me about the mythology. The learner may feel more comfortable writing a story about the information he/she knows then taking a test on the subject. / Substitute Curriculum:
Different instruction may need to be provided to meet this student’s goals. Information given directly from me or from the website may not work and models may have to be used.
Ursa Major, The Great Bear
Artemis, the moon goddess and goddess of the hunt, always had hunting companions with her when she went on the hunt. One such companion was Callisto, a beautiful young maiden. One day Zeus passed by a woodland cove and spied the sleeping Callisto. Zeus disguised himself as Apollo and made Callisto his lover. They had a child named Arcas. Of course Zeus knew that both Hera, his wife, and Artemis would be angry with Callisto so to protect her he turned her into a bear to keep her hidden from Artemis and Hera. One day, Arcas was hunting and he came across a great bear. He was just about to shoot his arrow when Zeus intervened and changed him into a little bear so that Arcas could know who the great bear really was. Zeus then transported the two bears to the heavens so that they would be protected from the wrath of the angry goddesses. However, Hera was unhappy that Callisto and her son were shining so brightly in the heavens so she asked the ocean god to prevent them from ever bathing in the ocean waters. And so, according to this story, that is why the two bears are forced to circle the heavens while the other constellations are allowed to dip below the horizon and bathe in the immortal waters every night. Three important stars in Ursa Major are Mizar, Dubhe and Merak. Dubhe and Merak are also known as the pointer stars because they point to the North Star. Mizar was the first binary star that was ever discovered. A binary star is a star that orbits another star. In 1650, an Italian astronomer named Riccioli using a simple telescope discovered that there were indeed two stars orbiting each other, a fact which could not be seen by the naked eye. Since then many binary stars have been discovered.Ursa Minor, the Little Bear
Ursa Minor is much harder to find than Ursa Major. Usually, it’s easier to find Ursa major first and follow the pointer stars to Polaris and then find the other stars of Ursa Minor. One important star is Polaris, the Pole Star or the North Star. It is an important star for navigators because it stays relatively fixed in the heavens while all of the other stars move in circular arcs throughout the night. In the past, it has been called ‘the ship star’, ‘the leading star’, ‘star of the sea’ and the ‘steering star’.Draco, the Dragon
The titans were giants with serpentine feet. They were almost invincible. When they revolted against the gods, they caused great destruction. During the battle, Athena grabbed the feet of one of these dragon-like giants and flung it into the heavens where it got tangled among the stars.One interesting star is Thuban. Around 2700 BC, at the height of the ancient Egyptian civilizations, Thuban, not Polaris, was at the celestial north pole and was therefore the pole star. The pole star changes slowly because the Earth’s rotational axis wobbles (spins around like a top).
Cepheus and Cassiopeia were the king and queen of Joppa, a city in the land of Ethiopia. They had many children including a daughter named Andromeda. Andromeda was very beautiful and when the sea nymphs overheard Cassiopeia boasting about her beauty, they complained to Poseidon.
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The King and Queen, Cepheus and Cassiopeia
Cepheus and Cassiopeia were the king and queen of Joppa, a city in the land of Ethiopia. They had many children including a daughter named Andromeda. Andromeda was very beautiful and when the sea nymphs overheard Cassiopeia boasting about her beauty, they complained to Poseidon.Poseidon got angry and sent a sea monster[1] to destroy the city. When the monster was coming, Cepheus consulted an oracle. The oracle gave Cepheus a choice: Sacrifice his daughter Andromeda, or face the destruction of the monster. Cepheus agreed to sacrifice his daughter to save the people of his kingdom and so he chained Andromeda to a cliff.
As it happened, Perseus was flying past on his flying horse Pegasus. Perseus agreed to save the daughter in return for her hand in marriage. Perseus and Andromeda lived a long life. When they died they were transformed into the stars as constellations along with the King and Queen, Cepheus and Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia is sitting in her throne and Cepheus has his arms stretched out. However, as punishment, Poseidon made sure that Cassiopeia’s throne was dumped upside down every night (when the constellation forms and ‘M’ instead of a ‘W’.
[1]
The Winter Sky
In Greek mythology, Orion was a great hunter who eventually offended the gods, especially Apollo. Apollo tricked Artemis, the Goddess of the hunt, into shooting Orion on a bet. When she discovered that she had shot Orion, she quickly lifted him to the heavens and made him immortal, where he now hunts eternally with his two dogs, Canis Major and Canis Minor. In front of him is his prey Taurus the Bull.