SKIES OVER NASHVILLE

Web sites

• Paper Plate Astronomy
• StarDate - daily astronomy radio program
• International Dark Sky Association
• Need-Less Light Pollution
• Sky and Telescope "Sky at a Glance"
• Encyclopedia Mythica
• Greek Mythology Link

Books

• New Patterns in the Sky by Julius Stahl
• The Stars by H. A. Rey
• Find the Constellations by H. A. Rey
• Constellations: A Glow-in-the-Dark Guide to the Night Sky by Chris Sasaki and Alan Flinn
• 360 Starry Nights by Chet Raymo
• A Walk Through the Heavens: A Guide to Stars and Constellations and their Legends by Milton D Heifetz and Wil Tirion

TN State Science Standards

Conceptual Strands

• THE UNIVERSE Conceptual Strand 6: The cosmos is vast and explored well enough to know its basic structure and operational principles.
• MOTION Conceptual Strand 11: Objects move in ways that can be observed, described, predicted, and measured.

Grade Level Expectations (GLE)

5th Grade

• GLE 0507.6.2 Recognize that charts can be used to locate and identify star patterns.

6th Grade

• GLE 0607.Inq.5 Communicate scientific understanding using descriptions, explanations, and models.

7th Grade

• GLE 0707.Inq.5 Communicate scientific understanding using descriptions, explanations, and models.

8th Grade

• GLE 0807.Inq.5 Communicate scientific understanding using descriptions, explanations, and models.

Other Subject Standards

• Reading / Language Arts 1.0

Pre-visit Activities

1. Download the monthly star chart from our website. Encourage students to locate the constellations and any planets visible in the evening sky.
2. Have the students read myths or stories involving the constellations. Greek and Roman stories are usually very easy to find in libraries. As a creative writing assignment, have older students rewrite an ancient myth, retelling it in a modern form, using the language and imagery of today.

Post-visit Activities

1. Download the monthly star chart from our website. Encourage students to locate the constellations and any planets visible in the evening sky.
2. Draw a random collection of 10 to 15 dots on the board. Ask students to look at the dots for 30 seconds, then have students redraw the dots on a piece of paper without looking back at the board. Discuss how difficult it is to remember the locations. What can they do to make it easier to recall the dots? Lead the students into discovering that grouping the dots into familiar shapes, letters, etc. will make it easier to remember the positions. Try the experiment again and see if it works. Discuss how this relates to the sky and constellations. Use a Examine star charts and talk about why some of the patterns may have been created. Share individual pictures with the class or display their creations.
3. Pick one of the constellations visible in the current night sky.
   • Present other cultural interpretations and the related stories for that constellation.
   • Have each student research a particular constellation and how many different myths or illustrations accompany it.
   • Have the students make up their own modern myths or change a classic myth so that it sounds like it took place today.
4. Using a globe, demonstrate the difference between rotation (turning around an axis) and revolution (orbiting/moving around another body). Go outside and divide students into groups of two. One student will be the Sun and one the Earth. Divide groups into threes and make the third student the Moon. Now have all three create a simulation of the Sun, Moon, and Earth, showing rotation and revolution all at the same time. You could also have students stand and act out both movements in a big circle with one student acting as the Sun in the center of the circle. Emphasize how all three objects are rotating and be prepared for a dizzy experience!
5. Demonstrate how we see different constellations in different seasons because as the Earth orbits the Sun during the year the night side of the Earth is facing a different part of the sky/celestial sphere.

Vocabulary

• asterism
• binoculars
• constellation
• galaxy
• Milky Way
• planet
• planetarium
• pollution
• projector
• spiral
• telescope