Spring 2011

It’s been a while since we had an astronomy club at PS102, but we’re back! Most of the sessions are repeats but since the original class that took them is now in 7th grade, that shouldn’t bother you. In fact, you’re getting a better deal since it means the activities are tried, improved, and in some cases, corrected. Ahem, the original activity for constructing a 3-D model of the Big Dipper had the stars labeled in the wrong order: how embarassing!

Most of the activities are going to focus on core New York State Science Standards. From the K-4 Standard, here is what students in the 5th grade should already understand with respect to astronomy-related content:

Standard 4: The Physical Setting

Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.

Key Idea 1: The Earth and celestial phenomena can be described by principles of relative motion and perspective.

The universe is made up of many different objects. Students should observe and describe the motions of the Sun, Moon, and stars. The movement of these objects through space can be traced and measured over various time segments.

By keeping daily records, students will learn to identify sequences of changes and look for patterns; this skill will be useful throughout their study of the natural world. Younger students should draw what they see. Older students should be encouraged to keep journals and use instruments to measure and record their observations.

Describe patterns of daily, monthly, and seasonal changes in their environment.

Performance Indicator 1.1

Major Understandings:

1.1a Natural cycles and patterns include:

• Earth spinning around once every 24 hours (rotation), resulting in day and night
• Earth moving in a path around the Sun (revolution), resulting in one Earth year
• the length of daylight and darkness varying with the seasons
• weather changing from day to day and through the seasons
• the appearance of the Moon changing as it moves in a path around Earth to complete a single cycle

1.1b Humans organize time into units based on natural motions of Earth:

• second, minute, hour
• week, month

1.1c The Sun and other stars appear to move in a recognizable pattern both daily and seasonally.

However, my past experience with students in the 5th grade indicates that most have only a partial understanding of 1.1a and 1.1c and do not realize that the units of time mentioned in 1.1b have their origin from astronomy and the “natural motions of Earth.”

The format of the club will facilitate development of “Standard 1 – Analysis, Inquiry and Design,” in particular the section on “Scientific Inquiry.” Some of the sessions have take-home activities which, while optional (this is a club, not a graded class), are designed to enhance the student’s understanding of items in Standard 4 and address items in Standard 1 such as

S3.1 Organize observations and measurements of objects and events through classification and the preparation of simple charts and tables.

and

S3.2 Interpret organized observations and measurements, recognizing simple patterns,
sequences, and relationships.

as well as the related elements of

Standard 6 – Patterns of Change

Key Idea 5:

Patterns of Change Identifying patterns of change is necessary for making predictions about future
behavior and conditions.

• use simple instruments to measure such quantities as distance, size, and weight and look for patterns in the data
• analyze data by making tables and graphs and looking for patterns of change

Most sessions will also involve hands-on activities related to model building or use. Students at this age have little difficulty understanding scale models, but abstract models are more difficult for many. Consequently, many of the models we will build or use correspond closely with the actual physical system (e.g., the planned 3-D constellation model construction). Along with such models, some in-class activities will involve drawing models (thus abstracting slightly from the full 3-D model). These activities are designed to address elements of

Standard 6 – Models

Key Idea 2:

Models are simplified representations of objects, structures, or systems, used in analysis, explanation, or design.

• analyze, construct, and operate models in order to discover attributes of the real thing
• discover that a model of something is different from the real thing but can be used to study the real thing
• use different types of models, such as graphs, sketches, diagrams, and maps, to represent various aspects of the real world

Additionally, many weeks will include vocabulary building activities such as word searches and crossword puzzles specifically related to the content.

In spite of all the heavy-sounding description above, a core part of the club is for the students to have fun. Most children at this age are fascinated with astronomy and science in general. They need to develop the skills, vocabulary, and content understanding, but in the process they need to be encouraged and helped to simply enjoy learning about and doing science.

I also want to note that the at-home activities, such as recording their observations of the moon’s phases and the time of day at which it is visible, are not going to lead to any new discoveries in science, they are real science activities and may lead to new knowledge for your child.