Edwards YMCA Camp
and Conference Center
N8901 Army Lake Rd
East Troy, WI 53120
Phone: (262) 642-7466
Fax: (262) 642-5108
Email: camped@campedwards.org
Astronomy
Objectives
Also it might be helpful to have a star finding book or story telling book for the evening. Some of our favorites include: Patterns in the Sky by Julius D. W. Staal, The Stars by H. A. Rey, Star Tales by Gretchen Will Mayo, and any of the Keepers of the Earth series by Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac. Introduction Start with the students inside. Explain to them what they will be learning about astronomy, the study of objects in the sky. Ask how many stars they think are visible on a typical night (about 2000!). Also in this area you can see up to 60 of the 88 known constellations. While having no scientific meaning, the constellations are great for helping you find your way around the sky. Start with the students inside. Explain to them what they will be learning about astronomy, the study of objects in the sky. Ask how many stars they think are visible on a typical night (about 2000!). Also in this area you can see up to 60 of the 88 known constellations. While having no scientific meaning, the constellations are great for helping you find your way around the sky. Astronomy Outline I. Start inside or sitting outside to talk about history of the night sky and the people who studied it. II. Talk about star cycles. Read "Birth and Death of a Star." For younger students tell a fable about the stars or moon. Storybooks are available from the camp staff. III. Talk about constellations and how they were "formed." This can be done while you walk to the telescope. IV. Telescope/ binocular watch. Try to focus on the moon first. It is the easiest to find! Then go from there. If there are planets out those are neat to see if you can find moons or rings! V. While some children are using the telescopes others can learn to use the star finders to find different constellations. VI. Wrap up: Talk about what was seen and see if everyone learned something new. Rainy or Cloudy Night Lesson Plan I. Start inside or sitting outside to talk about history of the night sky and the people who studied it. II. Talk about how stars are formed and die. Read "Birth and Death of a Star." For younger students tell a fable about the stars or moon. Storybooks are available from the camp staff. III. Talk about constellations and how they were "formed." Use a flashlight with the "stars" poked out of cardboard to describe and point out the constellations and tell the story behind them. IV. Talk about the moon and phases. Do the "Phases of the Moon" activity. V. Wrap up: Talk about what was seen and see if everyone learned at least one new thing. History of Astronomy in brief ... Prehistoric There is reason to believe that prehistoric people used to look at the sky the same way we do today (with their eyes). We have found cave drawings with constellations that looked like people and animals as well as stories that go along with them. The moon was a gauge in the sky. People used the position of the moon to find different stars at night and throughout the year. It also was the base for some of our earliest calendars. Polynesians Polynesians were the first people to use stars as a "map" in the Pacific Ocean. China The Chinese used changes in the sky to predict the future and to tell if danger was coming. They also could predict the kind of year it was going to be by where Jupiter was placed in the sky. If the planet was near the rabbit constellation then it was the "Year of the Rabbit" and some believed that the coming year would take on characteristic of a rabbit. Early Mayan Indians The Mayan people were the first on this continent to use written language to record historical facts. They also kept track of the movement of the stars and moon and used the information to predict solar and lunar eclipses as well as floods. The people knew that when the Star Sirius rose with the sun a flood was due. Babylon Babylon people were the first known group to study the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. They thought that the Earth was flat and the planets went around it. They were also the first group to observe seasonal equinoxes and the phases of the moon. Egypt The people of Egypt knew and could tell the difference between stars and planets. They could even identify Mercury, Mars, Venus and Jupiter. The star Sirius was used to predict the annual flooding of the Nile. Each year soon after it "set" and was out of the night sky the river would flood. Greeks Greeks theorized that the Earth was "in the shape of a ball." They came up with this in 240 BC when they studied shadows of the sun in other counties. They also knew at that time that the Earth was 25,000 miles around and that the moon was 240,000 miles away. Aristarchus discovered that the earth revolved on its axis but had no proof, so he was ridiculed. Another Greek noted that the moon did not produce light but rather reflected it from the Sun. Arabs Arabs discovered the Greek books and translated then into their own language and advanced on the ideas found. Later they translated them into Latin, which was the link into modern language and our use of it today. Dates and Names In 1543 Nicolas Copernicus discovered that the sun was the center of the universe. Brache discovered in 1577 that comets are further away than once believed. It was once thought that comets flew in our atmosphere and Brache found that they were never that close to earth. In 1608 the first telescope was made in Holland. An Italian Astronomer, Galileo Galileri heard of it and soon made his own to use. He was the first to discover that the moon was more than what could be seen be the eye. Star Cycles All stars are formed in vast clouds of gas and dust called a nebula (1). As a nebula collapses, the gas and dust it contains are pulled into many spinning balls, or protostars (2). Gravity squeezes each protostar until it becomes so hot that nuclear reactions occur - and when this happens- a star is born. This star will now burn for millions or billions of years depending on the mass of the star. A star with a very small mass - just enough for the nuclear reaction to occur-shines with a reddish glow. These stars are red dwarfs (3). Because the red dwarfs burn their fuel so slowly, they may burn billions of years before their energy is used up. Medium-sized stars, like our sun and the star in the story are about ten times more massive and much hotter. These are yellow stars (4) and they burn fuel faster than a red dwarf. Astronomers can tell how hot a star is by its color. Cooler stars are reddish-orange, warmer stars are yellow and the hottest stars are bluish-white. When red dwarfs and yellow stars die the usually follow the same pattern. First they use up their core fuel, which causes them to collapse. This triggers a final burst of energy and they puff up into huge red giants (5) - making them thousands of times larger than they once were. When these red giants finally use up their energy, they begin to shrink until they become small, dense white dwarfs (6). White dwarfs shine with a dim light and gradually cool for billions of years until they are cold, black spheres called black dwarfs (7). The most massive stars in the universe are called blue giants (8). These stars are 35 times bigger than our sun and millions of degrees hotter. They use up their energy faster than any other type of star and often burn for only a few million years. Once a blue giant has used all its fuel, it puffs up into a red super giant (9), which often collapse and then expands into an enormous explosion called a supernova (10). The gas and dust spewed into space by a supernova may form new stars and plants. During a supernova, a star becomes brighter than it ever was before. Its core collapses and it begins to shrink. Blue giants can become so dense as they shrink that their gravity pulls everything into them, and not even light can escape. They become black holes (11). Less massive blue giants can explode and collapse into a spinning dense sphere called a neutron star (12). Neuron stars are so dense that a teaspoon of their matter would weigh as much as 10,000 tanker trucks. Finding Stars and Constellations Once outside, have all the students sit or lay on the ground facing the same direction to start pointing out stars. Begin with the Big Dipper, which is part of a larger constellation, called Ursa Major or the Great Bear. Once the Big Dipper has been located, follow the two stars at the tip of the bowl known as the pointers. They will always point at the bright star Polaris, the North Star. You are now facing north. Polaris is known as the pole star because it is the star closest to the celestial pole. All the stars seem to rotate around it. Polaris is also the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper. The rest of the dipper is faint, but the two stars in the tip of the bowl can be seen. These are the guardians, named this way because they seem to "guard" the North Star. From the dippers you can begin to look for other constellations. The closest and visible all year is Cassiopeia the Ethiopian Queen. She appears as an M or W depending on the time of year. To find exact location of this and many other constellations the books mentioned earlier will help the most. Telescope and Binocular Viewing Edwards has binoculars for your use, which is the best option if you are unfamiliar with the sky. The moon is the most impressive object but not the only thing to see. Jupiter is out in the spring and fall and Saturn usually joins the sky in fall and winter. With the 10-inch refracting telescope, we have seen five of Jupiter's moons and we are trying to find Saturn's rings. This scope is available for use with an Edwards staff member. Site & Contents © Copyright 2003 Edwards YMCA Camp and Conference Center. All rights reserved. Disclaimer and Privacy Statement |