Why do the stars come out at night?

Why do the stars come out at night?

Lesson narration:
Scroll for prep
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Stars in the country vs city

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Why`do`you`think
stars`come`out`at
night?`Why`can’t
you`see`them`during
the`day?

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Search for Big Dipper

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Big Dipper revealed

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# Extensions
Below are ideas for extending this topic beyond the activity and exploration you just completed.
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# Readings

These reading are free with registration on ReadWorks or Newsela:

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# Videos
  • This video from National Geographic shows how the night sky looks from places with different levels of light pollution.

  • What gets hidden by light pollution? In this video, a professional astronomy photographer takes you out of the city to see the stars.

  • This news report from The Today Show shows how a small mountain town redesigned its lights to cut down on light pollution.

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# Activity

Create your own star clock with these instructionsso you can tell the time at night and predict when different constellations will be visible!

Note: This star clock was designed for use in the Northern Hemisphere. It uses Standard Time, so you should subtract 1 hour if you are on Daylight Savings Time. If you live in a country farther north or south than the United States, you may need to adjust the star clock based on your location.

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day


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the time when the Sun is in the sky
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night


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the time when the Sun is not in the sky
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Moon


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a large, round object that you can usually see in the night sky
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star


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a bright light that can be seen in the night sky
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astronomy


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the study of outer space
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constellation


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a group of stars that form a pattern
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observe


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to pay close attention to something
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telescope


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a tool used to make very distant objects look closer, often used to look at outer space
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model


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a pretend version of something that scientists use when the real thing is too big, small, or complicated to work with
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sunrise


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when the Sun appears in the morning
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sunset


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when the Sun disappears in the evening
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Lesson narration:

Activity Prep

Print Prep

In this lesson, students use a model to investigate why the stars are visible at night but disappear when the Sun comes out during the day. In the activity, Star Projector, students use paper cups to project stars onto a sky picture, and observe what happens to these stars when a flashlight acts as a model of the Sun.

Preview activity

Exploration

11 mins

Wrap-Up

4 mins

Extend this lesson

Download this Lesson to your device so you can play it offline: