Lesson 13 - Star Patterns (90-120 minutes)

Lesson Structure:

Students will learn about Greek myths and how constellations came to be. They will do so by reading from books and websites (listed below).

BIG IDEA:

• Become familiar with various Greek Myths and how they became constellations.
  
• Demonstrate the ability to paraphrase/summarize a Greek Myth effectively.
  

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Whole-Class Activity:

1. Watch the two videos above.
2. Show how a Star Finder works!
   

http://www.physics.csbsju.edu/astro/SF/images/circle2.gif

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Share a mythological story about a constellation as a whole class. I created an example from the Perseus Myth and my notes and video are below and to the right.

The simple notes I took while reading the story, to help me create my video.

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Student-Led Activity:

1. Sign into Google.
2. When your stick is pulled, choose a constellation to read about & type your name next to it on the GDoc.
3. Using the PDF to the right, read your story as many times as it takes to re-tell the story from memory in a way that others will understand clearly. You should take some notes, but you may not read word-for-word from them!
4. Some constellations have more than one story - please try to tell all of the stories that are provided!
5. Record your story on video and upload it to YouTube.
6. Embed your video on your ePortfolio with the blog title: "Star Patterns."
7. Above your video, insert a TITLE that says: The Constellation "______" (See my example to the right).
8. Do a Google Image Search for your constellation using the following search rules: "Gemini Constellation" or "Bootes Constellation."
9. Choose an image or two to include in your blog post & give credit following the mini-lesson rules from class. (I chose two.)
10. Create a new constellation by drawing exactly ten dots in a specific pattern that you can "Connect-the-dots." Take a picture of the ten dots BEFORE you connect them AND AFTER. Include both photos in your blog post. Include a title above the pictures for your constellation.
    
11. If you have time & interest, create an origin story for your constellation. How did your constellation come to be? Share it on your blog.
    

Sample Blog Post is here if you need it!

• When you finish, watch the videos below with headphones on and read about other Constellation stories using the links.
  
• No Reflection Questions this lesson.

Sample Sign-Up for this activity

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Watch these videos if you finish early:

A Navajo Legend

Click on the picture above to read more about constellations!

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Additional Constellation Stories to read:

Websites with Stories about the Constellations:

• https://www.wwu.edu/skywise/greekmyth.html
• http://www.tcoe.org/scicon/instructionalguide/constellations.pdf
• http://www.comfychair.org/~cmbell/myth/myth.html
• http://www.windows2universe.org/mythology/const_nav.html
• http://www.astro-tom.com/getting_started/mythology.htm

Books in the Classroom:

• The Ultimate Guide to the Sky by John Mosely
  
• The Children's Book of Myths and Legends by Ronne Randall
  
• An Abbeville Anthology: Stories from the Stars - Greek Myths of the Zodiac by Juliet Sharman Burke
  
• D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths by Ingri & Edgar Parin D'Aulaire's
  
• Find the Constellations by H.A. Rey