Starry, Starry Night
Number of Participants: 2
Approximate time: Part 1 and Part 2 ten minutes each
Competition:
Part 1: Constellation Identification in the Star Lab Planetarium
- Clipboards, pencils, and red flashlights will be provided for the students inside the Star Lab. Students may not bring any charts, maps, or notes.
- Inside the Star lab students will be asked to identify different constellations and their brightest stars. (See list on other side.) The constellations will be projected onto the walls of the inflatable planetarium with lines drawn connecting the stars. The facilitator will point to a constellation with a laser light and then each team will record their answer on its answer sheet. There is no talking inside the Star Lab.
Part 2: Written Test
- Teams will rotate through a set of stations each containing one question.
- Each team will be given one answer sheet. No talking. Team members may consult with each other by writing.
- Stations will have models and pictures that ask students to identify what they are seeing.
For example: A picture of the Milky Way Galaxy will be shown and students will be asked to identify it. Other questions will relate to the solar system, the sun, the moon and its phases, astronomers, and current events in space science.
Here are a few examples of tasks/questions:
Draw all of the phases of the moon.
Name the planets in order beginning at the one closest to the sun.
What is the U.S. doing in space at the present time?
What astronomer developed the first telescope?
Scoring:
All questions will be evaluated with equal weight. The contestants with the highest score will be the winners.
Stars and constellations/figures in the sky from which test questions will be selected:
Stars
- Rigel
- Polaris
- Sirius
- Betelgeuse
- Aldebaran
- Castor
- Pollux
- Regulus
- Pointer Stars
- Arcturus
- Deneb
Constellations/Figures in the Sky
- Gemini
- Leo
- Orion
- Cassiopeia
- Ursa Major
- Ursa Minor
- Cygnus
- Taurus
- Canis Major
- Lyra
- Pegasus
Resource books to consult might include:
Space Facts Pockets Full of Knowledge by Stott and Twist, published by Dorling Kindersley
The Sky at Night by Kerrod, published by Barrons