Constellation Modelling

 

The nearest star to the Earth is the Sun. Stars are big balls of hot gas called plasma, that are held together by their own gravity. It is estimated that there are between 200 – 400 billion stars in our galaxy and stars are usually between 1 and 10 billion years old and it takes millions of years from the light from stars to reach the Earth! 

Stars are often grouped into constellations and you will see some common constellations on your worksheet as a dot to dot. The first thing that you will need to do is complete your dot to dot on the worksheet so that you know what the constellations look like 

 

Now we are going to try modelling some of the constellations using the pipe cleaners and the beads. You will want to count how many stars are in the constellation and then thread that number of beads onto your pipe cleaner. You can then twist your pipe cleaner so that it takes the shape of the constellation and the beads are the stars. 

There are 8 different constellations on the worksheet for you to try, but there are lots more than that in the sky. Why not research some other constellations and try modelling some other designs!

The video tutorial for this activity is available on the Surrey Libraries Facebook Page or the Surrey Libraries YouTube Channel