School Based Activities
Activities: The Sun is a close star
Key objectives:
This activity aims to help student to:
• Identify the Sun as the closest star
• Realise that during the day the brightness of the Sun obscures the view of other stars
• Identify stars as far away suns
• Be aware that the sky is divided into constellations.
Pictures in the sky
Background information
Aboriginal groups all over Australia have a rich heritage of stories based on the stars and
shapes in the sky that include emus, sharks, stingrays and fish. One story of the emu
incorporates dark patches in the southern Milky Way from the Southern Cross to Scorpius.
Note that the Pointers are not part of the Southern Cross (Crux) constellation but belong to
the constellation Centaurus (a mythical beast that is half man and half horse).
What you need
• Copies of worksheet Pictures in the sky
• Optional prop: a blow-up sky globe showing the sky divided into the 88 constellations
and the brightest stars in each constellation joined together to form a shape.
• Copies of a note to parents explaining where to look for the Southern Cross.
What to do
1. Read through the worksheet Pictures in the sky in which Tina likes to make pictures by
joining the stars with imaginary lines.
2. Copy the star map for the current month. Only the brightest stars are shown. What
pictures do the children think they can see? Ask them to look for those stars on the next
clear evening.
3. Point out that people have been seeing pictures in the sky for thousands of years.
Astronomers now divide the sky into 88 constellations or sections. In each constellation
(or part of the sky), the brightest stars stand out. These bright stars can be joined
together to form shapes or pictures, just like a dot-to-dot puzzle. The picture that is
formed by the brightest stars becomes the name of the constellation. For example, the
best known constellation in Australia is Crux or the Southern Cross. The bright stars in
that area of sky form the shape of a cross. Crux is also the smallest constellation in the
sky because it covers the least amount of sky.
4. Look for the Southern Cross on the star map for the current month.
5. Write a note to parents explaining where to look for the Southern Cross at 8pm and
encourage them to look for it with their child.
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41 School Based Activities
Orion
Scorpius
Crux
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42 School Based Activities
Star light star bright
Background information
As a rule of thumb, the constellation of Orion can be seen during summer evenings and
Scorpius during winter evenings. It is found low in the eastern sky in the evening from
December, it sits overhead throughout February and becomes low in the western sky by
April.
The constellation of Scorpius is visible low in the eastern sky in the evening from May,
appears overhead during August and sinks low in the western sky by November.
The two constellations appear in opposite parts of the sky and at certain times one can be
seen rising as the other one sets. One myth states that Orion was killed by the poisonous
sting of the scorpion, which is why Orion now keeps out of Scorpius' way.
What you need
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Copies of worksheet Daytime star
Copies of worksheet Constellations in a cup
Polystyrene cups
Skewers
Scissors
Paste
Torches (one per pair)
Access to darkened room
What to do
1. Make sure each student has a polystyrene cup, a skewer and a photocopy of the
worksheet Constellations in a cup.
2. Cut out the cup constellation of Orion (for December - April) or the cup constellation of
Scorpius (for May - November) or either for spring and autumn. Paste the constellation,
face up, onto the inside bottom of the cup.
3. Cut out one of the cup constellations (see below), and paste it, face up, onto the inside
bottom of the cup. Make small holes where the dots are by carefully pushing a pin or
skewer through the dots one at a time. Make larger holes in the positions where there
are larger dots (representing brighter stars).
4. The cups are now ready to be tested to see if the constellation can be seen.
5. Darken a room or area that has a clear wall. Put the torch in the cup and shine it onto the
wall. The constellation should appear as dots of light on the wall. For best results the cup
(with the torch inside) needs to be quite close to the wall.
6. The darkened room simulates night and when the room lights are turned on it represents
day. Discuss what happens to the constellations when the light comes on even if the
students keep their torches on.
7. Read the worksheet Daytime star. Ask the children to write their toy’s reason why the
stars seem to disappear.
8. Encourage the children to look for their cup constellation in the evening sky.
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43 School Based Activities
A close star
Background information
The Sun is a huge ball of glowing gases (mostly hydrogen and helium). It is the star at the
centre of our Solar System. The Sun is located in an outer spiral arm of the Milky Way
Galaxy, approximately 28,000 light-years from the galaxy's centre. (One light year is about
10 million million km.)
In comparison with other stars, our Sun is very ordinary – it’s an average sized (1.4 million
km in diameter), middle aged (at least five billion years old) yellow star. The hottest stars
are blue/white and the coolest stars are red.
Many constellations were named in ancient times and associated with myths and legends.
Others however, especially those in the southern sky, are modern (15th and 16th centuries),
such as Telescopium (the telescope) and Pyxis (the compass).
What you need
• Copies of worksheet Daytime star
• Two bright torches
• Access to a corridor/passageway
What to do
1. Re-read the worksheet Daytime star.
2. Sit the class in a passage way or corridor.
3. Take two identical torches and check that they are of the same brightness.
(It's a good idea to replace older batteries).
4. Have one torch shining into the students faces at close range and the other at the far end
of the passage way.
5. Discuss the different appearance of the torches and relate this to the fact that our Sun
looks brighter because it is closer.
Extension activities
What you need
• Art paper
• Food dyes or paints
• Black paper
What to do
• Investigate other constellations: how they were named and the legends they relate to.
• Make sunrise/sunset pictures. Look at some photographs of spectacular
sunsets/sunrises. Using bright orange and yellow food dye, create a streaked sky
covering the whole sheet. As it dries, cut out silhouettes of trees, fences, houses, etc. to
paste in the foreground.
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44 School Based Activities
Worksheet – Photocopy this page.
Pictures in the sky
“Look at all those stars twinkling. It’s so beautiful,”
sighed Nellie.
“I like to pretend to join the stars together to make pictures,” added Tina.
“What can you make from those stars?”
I think it’s …
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45 School Based Activities
Worksheet – Photocopy this page.
Daytime star
“Our Sun’s a star, you know,” said Scarecrow. “It’s just a lot closer than the other
stars, so it looks a lot brighter.”
“It’s like those car headlights. The ones coming up the driveway look very big and
bright, but the ones down the road are small, even though they really are the same,”
added Tina.
“I’d like to know where all those stars go to during the day,” said Oscar.
Well ….
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46 School Based Activities
Worksheet – Photocopy this page.
Constellations in a cup
Orion
Scorpius
Crux
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