“Zubenelgenubi’s
Magical Sky”
Teacher’s Guide for:
“Zubenelgenubi’s
OBJECTIVES:
·
To introduce young stargazers to the planetarium and the night sky
·
To see how many different planets inhabit our solar system
·
To introduce the Sun and the Moon.
This show conforms to the following state science
standards:
BRIEF SHOW
DESCRIPTION:
Truth be told, the show’s live narrator is actually
Zubenelgenubi (which happens to be a star in the constellation Libra . . . .
which doesn’t matter one bit. It’s
just a cool name!) He or she
combines with characters in the show, namely Tracy the telephone pole, Hydro the
fire hydrant, and of course Mr. Sun and Ms. Moon.
Strange, you ask? Probably,
but the kids sure love it! Tracy,
Hydro and Zubee converse with the kids during the show about the day and night
sky, the colors of the rainbow, the phases of the Moon, and some constellations.
Two “live” sections during the show allow the narrator to point out
current constellations, visible planets, and anything desired by the teacher.
The students are actively engages as they “paint” the rainbow and
count the stars in the Big Dipper. It’s
a wonderful “first show” for young star watchers.
PRE-VISIT
ACTIVITIES/TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION:
·
Talk to the kids about what they’ll see in a planetarium as many
will be quite apprehensive. The planetarium is really like a movie theater, with comfy
seats and a big movie screen overhead. Instead
of movies, though, we’ll be putting stars up on the screen to “pretend”
that we’re outside at night.
·
What do students notice about the Moon?
How does it change?
·
Can your students name all the planets in our solar system?
How are they alike and/or different from our own Earth?
POST-VISIT
ACTIVITIES/TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION:
·
Watch for the Moon in the sky and have students (and their
parents) watch the Moon at the same time every clear night for several weeks.
What changes about the Moon? Is
the Moon always in the same spot? Drawings
to share with the class are nice, too. Maybe
even create a Moon bulletin board.
·
Can you name all the planets in our solar system in
order? Try making up a silly sentence that has all the first letters
of the planets in it. Here's two: My Very Eager Mother Just
Served Us Nine Pizzas or My Video Eye Might Just Show Us Nine
Planets. Can you think of more?
VOCABULARY LIST:
Sun
Phases
Moon
Constellation
INTERNET RESOURCES:
·
The Great Lakes Planetarium Association, writers of the show:
http://www.glpaweb.org.
·
Moon phases: http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/vphase.html
or http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/birthdayphases.html
·
Constellation basics: http://www.astro.wiscc.edu/~dolan/constellations
·
A tour of the planets: http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets.html