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# 138 - Stars; H-R Diagram Lesson - 4.15.06
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Bi-Weekly Science Lesson Plan List
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Apr 13, 2006 21:23 PDT
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Hi everyone,
This is a wonderful lesson that I used with my 6th graders during my
Astronomy unit. The way that I did it is a little bit different than the
lesson plan that is posted online.
The main objective of this lesson is to see the different types of stars
in our universe and the relationship between color and temperature, mass
and age.
I divided my students into groups of 4 and pushed the tables together to
make a large flat surface for each group. Two long lab tables work
perfect for this, or 4 regular, flat desks.
Each group of 4 had a huge poster laying on their table. I taped 4
poster sized papers together to make one large poster. On this large
poster I make a blank H-R diagram with the X and Y axis labeled for
them. (there is a template in the teacher guide)
This poster stayed on the table and was used by each class that sat at
that table during the day. So per 1, per 2, per 3, per 4 and per 5 all
used the one poster on that table. 4 students per table x 5 classes =
20 students worked on that one poster. It was a group effort that
spanned the whole day.
So if you had about 24 students in one class, you had 6 posters total in
your room, with each class working on those same 6 posters.
I then cut out stips of stars, about 5 stars per student. Each total
group was responsible for 100 stars. You will place 100 stars on each
table so all the kids that sit at that table will have a share of the
100 stars. I placed 5 stars in each envelope and labeled each envelope.
So on each of my group tables I had 20 envelopes total:
Table # 1 - 100 stars divided by the students in.....
period 1: seat a, seat b, seat c, seat d.
Period 2: seat a, seat b, seat c, seat d.
Period 3: seat a, seat b, seat c, seat d.
Period 4: seat a, seat b, seat c, seat d.
Period 5: seat a, seat b, seat c, seat d.
Table #2 - 100 stars divided by the students in.....
period 1: seat e, seat f, seat g, seat h.
Period 2: seat e, seat f, seat g, seat h.
Period 3: seat e, seat f, seat g, seat h.
Period 4: seat e, seat f, seat g, seat h.
Period 5: seat e, seat f, seat g, seat h.
and so on..... you may want to have some students help you get all the
prep work done before hand.....
Each table will take part in making one poster that includes all 100
stars, and each period will have a "shift" working on that poster.
We would then discuss the lesson and talk about what we were going to
do, I had each person take a star place it where they think it would go
on the H-R diagram. Then we would check it and if it was right, they
could then glue it on the chart. Once everyone was on a roll, I would
let them work on their own with each kid taking a turn placing their
stars on the chart.
When they were done putting their stars on the chart, they could work on
a different activity related to stars that I had until everyone was done
in their class.
Once all the posters are done, we hung them up in the classroom and
talked about what we saw, patterns, if any stars looked out of place and
why, where were most of the stars, etc etc......
I found that having meter sticks on the table helped a lot, the kids
could use them to plot their stars more accurately.
Some stars will overlap and that is ok.
After the lesson was done, we hung them up in the hallway and I typed up
some questions in large font for the passer-bys to think about!
It will take about 2 full class periods for the cutting of the stars,
pasting, and getting everything done, then the next day to discuss.
Here is the lesson plan home page:
http://astrobio.terc.edu/samples/chpt2_act3.html
Here is the teacher guide in pdf:
http://astrobio.terc.edu/pdf/tgc2a3.pdf
Here is the student guide in pdf:
http://astrobio.terc.edu/pdf/sgc2a3.pdf
Here are the 100 colored stars in pdf:
http://astrobio.terc.edu/pdf/c2a3starcircles.pdf
Here is a worksheet that I made about star color and temp in pdf:
http://www.middleschoolscience.com/starcolorhw.pdf
Here is an online H-R Diagram activity, you can do a free trial:
http://www.explorelearning.com/index.cfm?method=cResource.dspView&ResourceID=429
Have a great week!
Liz
www.middleschoolscience.com
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