In this lesson, students learn about astronomy in general and where we here on Earth fit into the picture. Students learn the unit used to measure distances in space, find out about the telescope, and view the shape of galaxies and the Milky Way in particular. To give students an idea of the distances between objects in space, have students measure the perimeter of the classroom in millimeters and explain that it is like using kilometers to measure distances in space. The units are too small to be useful, so light years are used to measure distances in space. Give students handouts on the Milky Way galaxy, and ask them to conduct research to locate our solar system within it.
Once students are introduced to the concept of astronomy including galaxies, stars and planets, they can investigate the properties of the sun, our local star. Students learn that stars, including our sun, are made of gas and emit light because of their high level of heat. They find out that our Milky Way has 300 billion stars, and they estimate how many stars there are in the universe. They can check online to find out the answer. Students can do role play to demonstrate how the Earth rotates on its axis once every 24 hours and revolves around the sun every 365 days.
The purpose of this lesson is teaching students to understand the patterns of stars in various constellations. Students have the opportunity to strengthen their visual perception and observation skills while recording information about constellations of stars. Students view constellations such as Ursa Minor, Ursa Major and Cassiopeia in the night sky. They then graph the patterns of the constellations on graph paper. Once they can recognize and reproduce the constellation patterns, they use holiday lights and fluorescent markers to mark the stars of the constellations on a bulletin board. Using string, students connect the stars to form the constellation. As a culminating activity, students can use the star patterns to create their own version of the constellation.
There are many ways teachers can reinforce subject matter in a unit on stars and space. Students can work with a partner to produce a model of the solar system or create a model of the night sky containing constellations such as the Big and Little Dipper. An entertaining way to allow students to apply their newly acquired comprehension of stars and space is to ask them to come up with a joke based on the subject matter. The teacher can provide some basic facts on a worksheet and lead a class discussion of how a joke might be constructed in a question-and-answer format. For example, one fact might be "Comets have tails." Students might come up with a joke like "How are Mickey Mouse, Annie's dog and comets alike?" and the answer would be "They are all stars with tails."