Constellations

Children from Ripon Children's Learning Center came to Ripon College in February, 2001, to do the constellation activity.

CONCEPTS: Almost all of the objects visible to the naked eye are stars relatively close to us in our region of the Milky Way Galaxy and are randomly distributed. Through the ages, however, people on Earth have given names to and told stories about specific groups of stars or constellations. They have been used as aids in navigation, calendar keeping, etc. Names and associations with cultural events for specific stars and star groups differed greatly from one civilization to the next. Now the entire sky is divided into 88 constellations, many using star names assigned by Islamic astronomers and constellation names based in Greek or Roman mythology. Every celestial object can be located in one of these or tracked through a set of them. Constellations are human creations. Originally they were objects of story telling. Now they provide the basis for an internationally agreed upon atlas of the sky.

THE ACTIVITY: This is an activity based on imagination rather than investigation.

Each child will generate a random set of dots by dropping a few small objects (M&M's, etc.) on paper. Then he or she will look for a pattern or picture in the set, give it a name, and replace each object by a stick-on star. Students will share and discuss their pictures with each other.

Materials and facilities needed to be supplied by the class: Flat desks or tables on which to do activity.

Wisconsin Science Standards:

Earth and Space Science: E.4.4

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