Stargazing: Lesson Ideas
Ideas for Teaching Astronomy in the Elementary School
The winter sky is filled with many wonderful sights and some great astronomy learning opportunities for students. Here are some fun star activities.
Winter is a great time for stargazing. The winter sky is filled with easy to see stars, planets and constellations. If your lesson plan includes astronomy, here are a few great ideas for teaching students about the winter night sky.
Stars
When children first look into the night sky, they may not realize that all of the stars they see are very much like our own sun. It is a star – just so near to us that it looks very big and bright. The stars in the night sky are so far away that they appear to be just points of light. If we could get into a spaceship and visit them, we’d see that some are much larger than our sun, some are much brighter, and some even shine with light that is very blue or very red.
You can help students to understand this idea by using a powerful flashlight in a darkened hallway. Stand quite close to the class and shine the light toward the students. Talk about how it looks and its size. Then walk slowly down the hallway and talk with the students about how the size and brightness of the light changes. Be sure they realize that the light is still the same – only its distance from them has changed.
Another way to help students understand the distance-brightness relationship is to use two different flashlights. Stand close to the class with one weaker light and have another student take a much brighter light far down the hallway. Talk with the students about what they observe and how the weaker, closer light may actually appear to be brighter than the stronger, more distant light.
Star Maps
Use a star map to help students locate very visible stars. In February in the northern hemisphere, these three stars are clearly visible in the early evening sky.
Rigel
Stand facing the southern sky and look to the east. Toward the horizon you will see a bright star called Rigel in the constellation of Orion. Rigel is the 7th brightest star in the night sky and shines with a white light. Rigel is thought to be about 800 light years from Earth and is over 40,000 times brighter than the sun.
Betelgeuse
Another easy-to-spot star is Betelgeuse, also in the constellation Orion. Betelgeuse shines with a red color and can be found by following a line directly northeast from Rigel. Betelgeuse is the second brightest star in Orion and the 9th brightest in the night sky.
Capella
Looking up and to the left of Betelgeuse you will find Capella, the brightest star in the constellation Auriga and 6th brightest star in the sky. This yellow star is actually a binary star and is easily found on a clear night.
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