Star Walk: Patterns of the Night Sky

Grade Level: 7-12 Subject: Astronomy Prepared by: Amy Eko Morgan

Overview and Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to the components and patterns of the night sky. The app called Star Walk will be used on an iPad. (An iPhone or iPod touch can also be used.) This app and tablet combination creates an augmented reality experience that helps students easily identify celestial objects in the night sky, as well as allowing them to make observations at any time of day if poor weather, location, or timing constraints prohibit them from making nocturnal observations of their own. The Star Walk app also has a timeline function that allows the user to view the location of celestial objects at any time from the year 1600 A.D. to the year 2400 A.D. Enduring Understandings: The Moon progresses through a predictable cycle of phases. Patterns created by stars are known as constellations. There are 88 recognized constellations which are mainly named after mythical Greek figures. Scientists can predict the positions of the stars at future dates, as well as phenomena such as eclipses and meteor showers. Stars vary in brightness or magnitude. The Sun, Moon, and 12 constellations of the Zodiac follow a similar path called the ecliptic. Our galaxy is known as the Milky way and the stars that compose it appear as a glowing band that stretches across the night sky at an angle that is roughly 60 degrees to the ecliptic.

Objectives: At the end of this lesson, students will be able to: (Knowledge Level) draw and label the phases of the moon starting with a New Moon and ending with the next New Moon. (Knowledge Level) identify and describe any major astronomical events occurring within the timeline of the Star Walk Calendar. (Knowledge Level) locate and name the 12 constellations of the Zodiac. (Knowledge Level) locate the constellations: Draco, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Orion, Cassiopeia and Cygnus (commonly known constellations) and identify the objects for which they are named. (Application Level) use the Star Walk app on the iPad to identify planets, constellations and other celestial objects during actual observations of the night sky. (Comprehension Level) explain what "magnitude" is in terms of describing stars.

(Knowledge Level) locate the planets, moon and Sun and (Comprehension Level) describe what they have in common. (Knowledge Level) define the term ecliptic. (Knowledge Level) locate the Milky Way and (Comprehension Level) describe its general orientation to the ecliptic. (Application Level) predict where a celestial object will be 3 hours (or any other set period of time) after its initial observation. (Synthesis Level) create a new constellation by saving a screen shot of their favorite portion of the nighttime sky and superimposing a drawing of a constellation of their own creation. (Evaluation Level) defend the validity of their new constellation by critiquing the choice of animals/figures chosen to represent the 88 recognized constellations.

Materials Needed: iPad (or iPhone/iPod Touch) with the Star Walk app installed Access to the Internet to look up unknown terms. Optional Resources: Digital projector capable of displaying the iPad (or iPhone/iPod) screen for demonstration purposes. Printer that is capable of connecting to iPad (or ability for students to send pictures to their own email account and print an attached image). Glow Draw or other drawing app for the iPad/iPhone/iPod (must allow the import of jpg pictures).

Information: 1 The instructor should demonstrate the capabilities of the Star Walk app by reviewing the menu items including: Calendar, Sky Live, Settings, the search function (to help identify constellations, planets, stars, satellites, and deep space objects), the information function (which allows the user to view detailed information about a particular object) and the timeline control function. 2 There is a brief tutorial that students can watch (found in the help section) if this is being taught as a distance-learning course. Verification: 1 The instructor will ask students to demonstrate their ability to use the various functions of the Star Walk app (if not a distance-learning class). 2 Students will complete a worksheet that guides them through a series of activities designed to meet the objectives and enduring understandings listed above. Activity: After students have receive a tutorial about how to use the Star Walk app, they will be asked to complete a worksheet containing guided questions that will help them demonstrate their mastery of the objectives listed above. This assignment can be done during any time of day. Students, however, will be encouraged to use the Star Walk app at night in order to

make real-time observations of the night sky. In addition to the guided worksheet, students will be asked to create their own constellation using a picture of stars captured from the tablet/mobile device. This picture can either be printed and the drawing produced directly on it or students can import their picture to a free drawing app such as Glow Draw, where they can add their constellation to the image before either sending it to the instructor or printing it out. Guided Questions: These instructions and questions can be included on a student handout to help them meet the objectives: 1 Navigate to the Sky Live page on the Star Walk app. Draw and label the phases of the moon starting with a New Moon and ending with the next New Moon. 2 Navigate to the Calendar page on the Star Walk app. Identify and describe any major astronomical events occurring in the upcoming months. 3 Navigate to the star map page. Locate and name the 12 constellations of the Zodiac. 4 Locate the constellations: Draco, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Orion, Cassiopeia and Cygnus (commonly known constellations) and identify the objects for which they are named. 5 Explain what "magnitude" is in terms of describing stars. (You may need to do an Internet search of the definition). 6 Explain how and why changing the Visual Magnitude slider in the settings affects the star map display. 7 Locate the planets, moon and Sun and describe what they have in common. 8 Define the term ecliptic. 9 Locate the Milky Way and describe its general orientation to the ecliptic. 10 Predict and describe where the sun will be 3 hours after its initial observation. 11 Predict and describe where a constellation will be 3 hours after its initial observation. 12 Create and name your own constellation by saving a screen shot of your favorite portion of the nighttime sky. Either print out the screen shot and draw your own constellation on the paper or save a jpg image of the screen shot and import it into an app such as Glow Draw where you can first draw you constellation over the image and then save or print the final product. 13 Defend the validity of your new constellation by critiquing the choice of animals/figures chosen to represent the 88 recognized constellations. (You may need to do some research about the origins of the 88 recognized constellations. Please cite your references.)

Notes: The iPad and iPhone have built in GPS capabilities, but at this time the iPod touch does not. As a result, the iPod Touch cannot automatically determine the users location and orientation. If the user wants to use the Star Walk app to locate celestial objects, he/she must first identify a known object in the sky and calibrate the iPod Touch by matching it to the same object in the app. Once this is done, however, it will operate in the same way as the iPad or iPhone. Even though the ecliptic is shown on the star map, it is not specifically identified as such except for in the help settings under F.A.Q. The guided worksheet will direct

the students to look up the definition of ecliptic on the Internet and then infer how it is represented on the star map. The following image is an example of what a student-created constellation could look like after following the steps outlined in guided question #12: