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Astronomy Year / Week 04 / Monday
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Week 04 · Find North

Monday

Meet the Big Dipper
// The Big Dipper and the North Star
⏱ about 15 min

Monday: Meet the Big Dipper

Nova projects seven bright dots on the wall.

"It looks like a giant spoon!" Rocket says.

Raven counts the dots. "What do you notice? How many make the cup?"

Nova smiles. "Hint: people call this the Big Dipper. A dipper is a big spoon."

Seven stars

The Big Dipper has seven bright stars.

Four stars make the cup.

Three stars make the handle.

PartStars
Cup4
Handle3
Whole Big Dipper7

A pattern inside a bigger pattern

The Big Dipper is part of a bigger star group.

That group is called Ursa Major, the Great Bear.

A star pattern inside a bigger group is called an asterism.

BIG DIPPER FACTS
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
How many bright stars make the Big Dipper?
The Big Dipper is part of which bigger star group?
Star factTrue or false?
The cup has four stars.?
The handle has five stars.?
The Big Dipper is an asterism.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEKnowing the shape helps you find it outside.
Draw the Big Dipper with seven dots. Connect them with lines.

Many names, one pattern

People all over the world have watched these seven stars.

In ancient China, people called them the Northern Dipper.

In ancient Mesopotamia, people called them the Wagon.

Today many people say the Big Dipper.

DIPPER DETECTIVE
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
How many stars are in the handle?
What is a dipper?
What did people in ancient Mesopotamia call these stars?
What do we call a star pattern inside a bigger group?
BUILD THE BIG DIPPER
  • Tap a card.
  • Then tap its spot.
1First
2Next
3Last
Try it
Lay out seven small paper dots on a table.
Make a cup with four of them.
Make a handle with the other three.
Safety first
Keep small paper dots away from babies.
Nothing goes in your mouth.

You met the Big Dipper! Tomorrow it points the way.