constellation

Introduction:

When we gaze up at the night sky, what can we see? Mostly thousands of stars twinkling down upon us. Did you know that groups of stars are called constellations? These constellations we see were parts of myths from long ago with elaborate stories behind them. There are kings and queens, bears, dragons, serpants, and instruments all shining high above us.
star horizon

The Challenge!:

Your challenge is to choose a constellation and research its history and the story behind it. You will use the information you find to create a picture of the constellation as it appears in the night sky, as well as what you think the person, animal or object would look like in real life. You will also use the information from the history and stories to write a poem about your constellation.

 

The constellations you can choose from are: Pegasus the winged horse, Orion the hunter, Andromeda the princess, Sagittarius the archer, Hydra the sea-serpant, Ursa Major (the great bear), Draco the dragon, and King Cepheus.

sagittarius

The Journey:

To get information about the constellations, here are some helpful websites for you to use!

Constellations and Mythology  http://www.astro-tom.com/getting_started/mythology.htm

Windows to the Universe  http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/mythology/stars.html

The Mythology of the Constellations  http://www.comfychair.org/~cmbell/myth/myth.html

The Constellations   http://www.dibonsmith.com/constel.htm

Constellation Mythology http://www.coldwater.k12.mi.us/lms/planetarium/myth/index.html

 

To get even more information, use these key words in search engines such as yahoo, or google: your constellation name, “constellation myths,” or “mythology.”