• Our STEM projects are designed so that participants get it wrong before they get it right. You will observe your students struggling as they attempt to create their own STEM projects. This process is an empowering experience, building perseverance, frustration tolerance and growing overall confidence! With your support, students will step out of their comfort zones to think, build and problem-solve for themselves.
  • Productive Struggle Opportunities:
    -Cutting with scissors
    -Using a push pin and paper clip

In this Rosie Labs guide you will find:

  • Productive struggle opportunities for students during their project build,
  • Lesson objectives and concept overview,
  • Optional STEM topic video to share with participants,
  • Step-by-step instructions and video of the Rosie Riveters’ Constellation Cards Project,
  • Optional STEM activities to further explore the objectives and concepts used in the project build.

Objective

Constellation Cards introduces students to astronomy by learning about the role of constellations in navigation.

Concept Overview and Experiment Inspiration

Have you ever wondered how explorers navigate (travel) using the stars? It’s not as difficult as you may think. The night sky is made up of many different stars, which are huge spheres (like a ball) of super hot hydrogen and helium in space. Explorers long ago looked up to the sky and connected stars together, imagining pictures in the sky. These patterns that they imagined by connecting groups of stars together are called constellations. Constellations were named after objects, animals, and people long ago. You can think of constellations like a game of connect-the-dots, where when you draw a line between the stars you form an image. Some constellations you may know are the Little Dipper and the Big Dipper, which look like spoons in the sky.

So how did explorers navigate the world without the use of modern technology? Explorers came to understand the Earth and their locations on Earth through understanding the night sky and the constellations they could see. In particular, they relied on one important star named Polaris. Polaris, which is also called the North Star, is located at the very top of our planet, right above the North Pole. It is technically three stars but our eye just sees the one star! Polaris makes up the very end of the handle in The Little Dipper and is part of the larger constellation, Ursa Minor (or the little bear!) While most stars appear to move throughout the sky at night, like the sun does during the day, Polaris stays in the same place. It is a perfect tool for navigation, because once you can find Polaris, you can use it as a reference to organize the rest of the sky and more easily locate the other directions of South, West and East.

Science Goals

  • Astronomy is the study of the objects beyond the Earth’s atmosphere
  • Constellations are pictures in the sky that have helped humans navigate the Earth for centuries
  • Polaris is a three-star system that sits at the top of the Earth and is the most important navigation reference

Vocabulary


Astronomy – the science of all of the objects beyond the Earth’s atmosphere
Constellation – a group of stars that form a pattern that can look like objects, animals or people
Polaris – Also known as the North Star, it is actually a triple star system that sits at the very top of the Earth, above the North Pole. It is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor.

Required Materials

  • black card stock circles
  • push pin
  • cardboard tube
  • constellation templates
  • pen, pencil, or other writing tools
  • scissors
  • paper clip
  • flashlight

Step-By-Step Instructions

Step 1

Cut 1 cm cuts around the top of the craft tube to create wreath-like folds around the tube. This is where your constellation circles will be able to sit.

Step 2

Cut out the constellation templates.

Step 3

Place your chosen constellation templates over the black cardstock circles and use the push pin to punch through the cardstock to create a hole. Making sure to punch the holes so that they fit within the circle of the paper craft tube.

Step 4

Secure each constellation card to the craft tube using the included paperclip.

Step 5

Turn off the lights. Shine a flashlight through the craft tube and project at the wall or ceiling to see your constellations.

Optional STEM Activities

Resource 1

Check out this video for more visuals about constellations!

Resource 2

North, South, East and West!

  • Label your classroom with each of the four major directions, starting with the first wall labeled as North, then the wall to the right as East, the next wall to the right as South and the final wall as West. Place a second blank label over the directions East, West and South so that they are hidden.
  • Have students stand in the middle of the room facing North.
  • Ask students to close their eyes and spin in place! Then open. What do they see? Challenge them to find North and then together figure out where the other directions are

Challenge – Add more detailed directions in the corners of the room, NW, NE, SW, SE

 

Resource 3

Invent your own Constellation!

Use star or circle stickers for students to create their own constellation on a dark piece of paper. Using a pencil, lightly connect the stickers to form their constellation. Ask them to name their constellation and describe the location of its stars!

Resource 4

Connect the Stars!

Have students use this constellation template to connect the stars and see these real constellations. Learn a little more about the stories and symbols behind these constellations.

Resource 5

Planisphere Activity

A planisphere is a map of a sphere, or in this case we have a map of the night sky. What does the sky look like where you live today? How will it change throughout the year? Use this planisphere tool to explore the night sky.

  • Place the star map into the planisphere pocket.
  • Identify North using a compass.
  • Stand facing South.
  • Hold the planisphere so that North is facing you.
  • Rotate the star map to line up the date and the time to the day you are outside.