MC	6^th Grade	Standard: 04
Objective: 02. Describe the appearance and apparent motion groups of stars in the night sky relative to Earth and how various cultures have understood and used them.
ILO:

What do the stars in a constellation have in common? The same

a. brightness

b. distance from Earth

c. size

d. general direction from Earth

Correct Answer: d

MC	6^th Grade	Standard: 04
Objective: 02. Describe the appearance and apparent motion groups of stars in the night sky relative to Earth and how various cultures have understood and used them.
ILO:

Which stars do we always see during the year? Stars

a. on the horizon

b. over the north pole

c. in the larger constellations

d. inside other galaxies

Correct Answer: b

MC	6^th Grade	Standard: 04
Objective: 02. Describe the appearance and apparent motion groups of stars in the night sky relative to Earth and how various cultures have understood and used them.
ILO:

The star shape sometimes known as the ÒBig DipperÓ lies within the constellation that is officially named _________________

a. Ursa Minor

b. Ursa Major

c. Leo

d. Hydra

Correct Answer: b

MC	6^th Grade	Standard: 04
Objective: 02. Describe the appearance and apparent motion groups of stars in the night sky relative to Earth and how various cultures have understood and used them.
ILO:

How were constellations originally named and identified?

a. as people or animals they may have resembled

b. mathematically, with numbers and coordinates

c. in groups of very distant, bright or old stars

d. by their location from EarthÕs horizon

Correct Answer: a

MC	6^th Grade	Standard: 04
Objective: 02. Describe the appearance and apparent motion groups of stars in the night sky relative to Earth and how various cultures have understood and used them.
ILO:

Early astronomers thought that galaxies were single stars. Why was this mistake easy to make?

a. Galaxies are so far away that they look like a single star.

b. Galaxies are made of stars and you can only see one at a time.

c. Light from galaxies collects into a single beam.

d. Earth is small and galaxies are much larger.

Correct Answer: a

MC	6^th Grade	Standard: 04
Objective: 02. Describe the appearance and apparent motion groups of stars in the night sky relative to Earth and how various cultures have understood and used them.
ILO:

Star	Light Years
Altair	16
Fomalhaut	22
Rigil Kentaurus	4.3
Sirius	8.6
Vega	25

The chart above shows the distance from Earth to five of the star visible in the night sky. Which graph best represents this data?

Correct Answer: a

MC	6^th Grade	Standard: 04
Objective: 02. Describe the appearance and apparent motion groups of stars in the night sky relative to Earth and how various cultures have understood and used them.
ILO:

The set of constellations visible in a night sky changes from month to month due to

a. the relative motion of the Sun and the stars

b. the rotation of the Earth

c. the orbit of the Moon around the Earth

d. the orbit of the Earth around the Sun

Correct Answer: d

MC	6^th Grade	Standard: 04
Objective: 02. Describe the appearance and apparent motion groups of stars in the night sky relative to Earth and how various cultures have understood and used them.
ILO:

Sandy records her observations of the night sky one evening in the June. She notes several constellations. In December, she takes her observations outside to find the same constellations. They are no longer visible. This can be explained by:

a. The force of gravity

b. The distance between the stars

c. The revolution of the Earth

d. The change in temperature

Correct Answer: c

I	6^th Grade	Standard: 04
Objective: 02. Describe the appearance and apparent motion groups of stars in the night sky relative to Earth and how various cultures have understood and used them.
ILO:

Use this diagram to answer the next questions. The Earth is shown in two positions. Two constellations ÒAÓ and ÒBÓ are shown.

1. Which constellation will people see when Earth is in position 1?

2. Why?

3. How long will it take before observers can see the other constellation?

4. What are two ways this diagram is incorrectly scaled?

Correct Answers:

1. A

2. The sunÕs light will block the view of constellation B.

3. 6 months

4. The Earth is too large, the constellations should be much farther away.

I	6^th Grade	Standard: 04
Objective: 02. Describe the appearance and apparent motion groups of stars in the night sky relative to Earth and how various cultures have understood and used them.
ILO:

Use these constellations to answer the next two questions.

1. Which constellation is located between star ÒAÓ and ÒBÓ?

a. Pegasus

b. Cassiopeia

c. Big Dipper

d. Orion

2. What star is ÒDÓ?

a. Antares

b. Betelgeuse

c. Polaris (North Star)

d. Sirius (Dog Star)

Correct Answers:

1. c

2. d

I	6^th Grade	Standard: 04
Objective: 02. Describe the appearance and apparent motion groups of stars in the night sky relative to Earth and how various cultures have understood and used them.
ILO:

Using constellation A and B, answer the following set of questions.

1. Constellation A is a representation of what group of stars?

a. Taurus

b. Orion

c. Canis Major

d. Draco

2. Constellation B is a representation of what group of stars?

a. Taurus

b. Orion

c. Canis Major

d. Draco

3. Constellation A is known as Òthe great hunter,Ó while Constellation B is known as Òthe greater dog.Ó How did these groups of stars get their names?

a. They are the brighter of two constellations.

b. They have a lot of stars in them.

c. They look like a hunter and a dog.

d. They protected the skies in ancient days.

Correct Answers:

1. b

2. c

3. c

E	6^th Grade	Standard: 04
Objective: 02. Describe the appearance and apparent motion groups of stars in the night sky relative to Earth and how various cultures have understood and used them.
ILO:

What are galaxies made up of?

Correct Answer:

Many millions of stars.

P	6^th Grade	Standard: 04
Objective: 02. Describe the appearance and apparent motion groups of stars in the night sky relative to Earth and how various cultures have understood and used them.
ILO:

A fellow student asked if the stars were the same distance from Earth. For extra credit your teacher asked you to develop a model to demonstrate the answer to this question. Make a model that would demonstrate the concept of star distances in constellations.

Scoring Guide:

	3	2	1
Star Placement	Stars form constellation pattern seen from one direction only.	Star pattern formed and recognizable.	Star pattern formed.
Concept taught	Concept easily observed and understood.	Concept demonstrated.	Concept observed but somewhat unclear.
Neatness	Well organized, neatly displayed.	Organized and neatly displayed.	Neatly displayed.

P	6^th Grade	Standard: 04
Objective: 02. Describe the appearance and apparent motion groups of stars in the night sky relative to Earth and how various cultures have understood and used them.
ILO:

Constellation Calendar

Activity Description:

Students choose constellations to draw as ÒartÓ for a calendar.  They will describe three facts about each constellation.

Materials:

Calendar pages (see below) markers (glow in the dark markers would be fun) resource materials (astronomy books, Internet, encyclopedias)

Time Needed:

This will vary depending on whether students work in groups or alone. If in groups, about 60 minutes. If alone, 60 minutes of class time plus time at home or the next day.

Procedure:

1.  Print off calendar pages by changing the month and date on the calendar page below then print each page.  Hand out calendar pages to students.  They can be a full size piece of paper or you can shrink them to half page size.  They will be stapled in the middle.

2.  Place students in groups if desired.  Four is a good number, each student would research 3 constellations.

3.  Tell students they need to draw the constellation on the ÒpictureÓ part of the calendar and write three facts in the box.  They will get the facts from the resources you provide. 

4.  Have students share information within their groups to complete each calendar.

Scoring Guide:

1.  Student researches and draws three constellationsÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ20 pts

2.  Student shares information with groupÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ .5 pts

3.  Students completes own calendarÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ.10 pts

4.  Calendar is neatÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ.5 pts

6.  Calendar has three facts for each constellationÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ...10 pts

Sample Page: