Science Technology

For my activity I will be focusing on the 6th grade
Standard 4 Students will understand the scale of size, distance between objects, movement, and apparent motion (due to Earth's rotation) of objects in the universe and how cultures have understood, related to and used these objects in the night sky.

Objective 2 Describe the appearance and apparent motion of groups of stars in the night sky relative to Earth and how various cultures have understood and used them.

a.)Locate and identify stars that are grouped in patterns in the night sky.

After learning about constellations in the night time sky, I would have my students pick a night of a specific week to go outside their home and observe the night sky. After they have decided on a night, they will use the program stellarium in class to find out what the night time sky should look like from their home on that specific night at a specific time. Using stellarium they will identify specific constellations that should be visible to them at that night. They will be able to reference a sheet of the specific constellations in the sky to aid them in identifying the constellations. They will then record which constellations should be visible to them. The night they do their observation they will specifically look for the constellations they found when using stellarium. The next day in class they will then draw pictures of the constellations they were actually able to find.

Content: Students will use stellarium to identify constellations that are visible from their home on a given night.

Pedagogy: Students will observe the night sky at home as well as on stellarium and will classify groups of stars as constellations. They will then record their findings and draw the constellations they observed.

Technology: Stellarium