Constellations and Stars lessons came after we had a quiz that included lessons on understanding the Earth, Moon, and Sun relationships and movements and their impacts on the Seasons. Each lesson in Sky Science starts with key vocabulary review. During the lessons on on the phases of the moon we used a YouTube rap song so students would 'sing out' that portion of the vocabulary review.
Constellations and the stars
Our Constellations lesson consisted of two parts. One was focused on a more traditional learning model. Students have been working through parts of a Sky Science Workbook that connects to slides I would present as live as more active group activities.
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As we completed pages of the workbook as a class, my finished pages would be posted on one of the white boards for students who either missed the class or wanted to verify their work.
Sky Science Workbook Pages:
Example of Constellation Sections:
Incorporating local Indigenous knowledge
One of the ways I incorporated Indigenous knowledge was to discuss the Blackfoot use and understandings of the Star Cluster known as Pleiades in Western Astronomy.
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A large sculpture of a teepee was being constructed visibly from the area the students play during their breaks. This provided a simple opportunity to connect our sky science to the traditions of the local Blackfoot people since the top of the teepee is often used to communicate their connection to the cosmos.
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As a class, we watched the first portion of the Rebecca Many Grey Horses video and had a discussion the Star Cluster's time keeping and cultural uses by the Blackfoot.
Planets and The Solar System Week
For my final week our class worked on a weeklong brochure making project.
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On the Monday we had "discovery" lesson in which we had large group discussion about the planets and moons of the solar system. It provided an opportunity for students to lead discussions since many of them already have interesting and fun space knowledge they could share.
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Once we'd had a fun and informative discussion it was time to start the project. I introduced the concept:
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Our class is part of the school's space tourism program. Each student was handed an envelope with a ticket inside that indicated what two 'worlds' they could choose from as their destination.
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Student agency is essential and relates back to my school's unique methods of learning. This project provided an opportunity for students to make a choice in their project in a fun and interactive way.
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Each lesson during the week still included some time at the beginning for vocabulary review and discussions the workings of the solar system.
Planet's Week Lesson Plans:
Planet's Week Travel Ticket Template:
Planet's Week Brochure example:
One of the essential short lessons (See Thursday Lesson) at the beginning of this weeks classes was on understanding the scale of the solar system. I measured out a string to stretch the length of the classroom and scaled down the Sun, Earth, Venus and Mercury to give the students chance to "walk" the distance from the Earth to the Sun before then showing discussing the rest of the planets which I'd mapped out on google maps.
