Part one of our three part unit was to help the students familiarize themselves with the program Stellarium, and fine tune their web based research skills. They were to find three constellations of my choice, and identify them in Stellarium. They were then to find background information about what people and culture named this constellation and how it may or may not have been used for navigation at sea.
Ursa Major, "The Big Dipper"
Gemini, "The Twins"
OrionPart two on another day, i gave the kids following clue. "On the Australian and New Zealand Flag there is a constellation. Find the name of that constellation, and change your location on Stellarium to one where you could see this at night." This required the kids to understand that this particular constellation is not visible in the Northern Hemisphere, and you must be South of the Equator to view.
The Southern Cross
Part three required the kids to find Ursa Minor in the Utah night sky. They were to center the constellation on the screen.
The North Star is in the center of the screen.I then had the kids "speed up time" on Stellarium so that the circumpolar stars around the North Star were moving, while the North Star remained fixed. I had them hypothesis why this was. The kids had a hard time fully understanding what exactly what was going on, and led to a very beneficial class discussion about Polaris.
The Students here at Pretend Elementary are really enjoying these technologies!!
Good job guys! This sounds like a great idea for seeing the constellations without worrying about cloudy or clear nights or constellations that are only visible from different hemispheres. If I were an editor for Tech Savvy teacher, your article would be front page, blog-page that is! :) hee hee!
ReplyDeleteGreat job Lewis! I like that you guys zoomed in the pictures on the constellations, we didn't get that technical in our pictures, but it sounds like you learned a ton about the Stellarium! Someday I'll have to sit down and learn as much, you guys did a great job exploring and showing what you learned! Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great project! I want to attend Pretend Elementary so I can learn about constellations this way. That was a very creative way to use Stellarium. You guys did great!
ReplyDeleteI really liked your lesson plan, and the article was clear and concise! I thought it was awesome to give the students challenges and assignments that made them think and explore the programs. Once students have the chance to explore, they will probably be more interested and invested in their own learning! Great job!
ReplyDeleteI am so impressed with your science lesson! I think the kids will love it! If I was in your class I would love it. I really like how you told them exactly what you expected. You directed them to exactly what you wanted them to discover. I like the content knowledge of constellations that you chose.
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