Science – The Astronomer

Sub-school: Secondary Lesson number: 3 Week: 3 Date: Thursday 30th April, 2020

What am I learning? I am learning to observe the night sky.

What is my teacher looking for? I can observe the night sky.

An astronomer is someone who studies all the things we see in the sky during a clear, cloudless night. They really love stuff that is in outer space! Space is a strange and beautiful part of the universe and you are going to explore the night sky.

If it is too cloudy you can always explore space online.

What time is the sunset tonight? ___________

What is the weather report for tonight? ___________

Stars – A star is a giant burning ball of gas that is very far away.

Count as many stars as you can see and write

Fact – Can you see any patterns in the stars? Choose a group of stars and draw the pattern that they

In fact our own Sun is the closest star to us at 149 million

kilometres! The next closest star is Alpha Centauri which is 41 trillion kilometres away!!

or draw dots showing how many you have counted.

Did you know that there are 10 times as many stars as there are grains of sand on all of the beaches in the world!

make in the space below or on a separate piece of paper.

Moon - Is the moon out? The Moon originally was a piece of the Earth that ‘broke’ off billions of years ago. The light you see from the Moon comes from the sun reflecting off its surface.

Draw the Moon. Facts - The Moon is a 3 day trip by rocket from Earth. Only 12 people have visited the Moon. The Moon is 384,403 kilometres from Earth. Humans are planning on making a base on the Moon in the next few years.

Draw what the future Moon Base might look like.

Satellites- A human made satellite is an electronic piece of equipment that helps people on Earth communicate.

Look up into the night sky up at the stars. If you are patient you will see what looks like a moving star, it is actually a satellite! Count how many satellites that you see, you might be surprised!

I counted 4 satellites passing over the other morning while it was still dark!!

Facts – Satellites travel at nearly 30,000 km per hour!

There are 2,500 satellites travelling around the Earth right now.

Satellites help with TV, mobile phones, GPS and the internet.

Design your own satellite.

Questions to ask your child: - Can we look at the stars if there are a lot of clouds in the sky?

- Weather check – Is it cloudy tonight?

- What is the weather forecast for this evening?

- What time is the sunset tonight?

- How can we get comfortable for our star gazing?(e.g. Jackets, hot chocolate)

- If it is cloudy, how else can we explore space? (Internet)

Useful links:

Learn the planets in our solar system with this catchy song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQrlgH97v94

NASA is the biggest space company in the world, explore their website - https://www.nasa.gov/

The Hubble telescope is a space telescope that takes amazing images, check some out - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-YOlGoKxeM&t=1578s