Sky Science

What will we be doing the next few months? Differences between stars, sun, moons and other celestial bodies and how they either reflect or emit light Constellations (groups of stars) Movements in our night sky; is it regular and we can predict it or is it irregular

How to view the sun safely How to plot the movement of the sun over the course of a day Seasonal changes and the length of day and night. Does the earth tilt? Spin? Why is that important?

All about the moons phases What are all the other planets about? Learning about the different moons on the other planets

Technology that people are using to enhance our understanding of space All about our universe and what else could be out there…

Lets take a closer look at our amazing solar system! Video:

Ancient Beliefs

Throughout the ages, people have been fascinated with the skies and tried to understand and explain celestial bodies and events. Various cultures have used story—myths and folktales to do this.

Ancient Astronomers Ptolemy (~2000 years ago) Came up with the first known map of the heavens Said the earth was shaped like a great sphere The earth was the centre of the universe with the sun, the moon and the stars revolving around it. The earth did not spin on its axis but rather was quite still

Ancient Astronomers Capernicus (1530 CE) Said that the sun was at the centre of the universe, not the earth The earth spins on an axis as it travels around the sun

Ancient Astronomers Galileo (1610 CE) Able to prove that Capernicus was right He used an “optic tube” later to be named a telescope

What are you interested in learning?

Take a moment to think about what you are interested in, and what you want to learn in this unit Turn to your neighbour and come up with TWO GOOD questions that both of you want to learn.

Lets go over those questions and post some of them in our class!