Astronomy and Space Sciences

Rationale and Initiation

This unit will use the idea of constellations as a vehicle by which to teach basic astronomy content to middle school French language students. Other foreign language teachers are encouraged to use this framework and adapt the vocabulary to suit the teaching of whatever language taught. The format of this unit is inspired by two children's books written and illustrated by H.A. Rey, Find the Constellations and The Stars: A New Way to See Them. The simple language and clear, concise sentence structure used in both serves as a wonderful model for a content-based unit on the stars, taught in a foreign language.

The stars and the solar system are part of the fifth grade science curriculum in my school, so students will already have a foundation of knowledge about the content of this unit. Students will be able to draw on prior knowledge to navigate the information in the foreign language; this will bridge the gap between the unknown (the foreign language) and the known. It will give students a level of security most will not have in learning content in a foreign language. Although I will teach this unit to my 8 ^th grade class, it can be adapted to any grade level. I can already envision the pride on my students' faces when they see how far they have come, to now be learning science in a foreign language!

I will begin the unit with a background lesson on stars and magnitude. I provide lesson-starters in the next two sections that model the simplicity of the target language to be used in conveying this not-so-simple information. To be certain that the information is clear, the English equivalent will follow each French language section; it is meant for the teacher, but may be used to help reach students who need extra assistance. Although it will be difficult, students will likely show enthusiasm for this method of conveying content through language immersion, because the language will be comprehensible and, combined with the prior knowledge they have, will result in greater understanding. ¹

We will swiftly immerse ourselves in the constellations, those imagined images one can form by connecting the star-dots in the sky. In total, we will explore 11 constellations (and 2 asterisms), including notable stars, position in the sky, and a little bit about the Greek myths surrounding the constellations. I intend to teach this unit in January, and so I have chosen to highlight constellations that are easiest to see in that month. A quick look at any resource on constellations can tell you the best times of year to see each constellation, so that you may customize the material to suit your needs; I used Rey's book Stars.

Throughout the course of this unit, students will learn the concept of magnitudes of brightness, the names of all 20 brightest stars in our sky, light-year distance relations, and why our views of the stars changes over the course of a year; that learning will revolve around this foundation of constellation images. Information that is otherwise meaningless to the average middle school student will now feel meaningful; students will relate information about magnitudes and distances to the pictures they will see in the sky; in this way constellations will become the ultimate memory tool! Students will not learn the vocabulary because they memorized it, but instead, because they used it. Meaning-based learning is fundamental, and students remember vocabulary that they need. The names of stars will now be important, as they will help a student orient his constellation image in the sky. By using simple French language I will convey this information to students, and we will take it apart and put it back together again, practicing the vocabulary and sentence structure amidst this new and exciting atmosphere of the stars in our sky.

After students have a firm grasp of the stars and constellations introduced, we will discuss how and why what we see in the sky changes over the course of a year. Students will reproduce general sky-view charts, and will then move on to the task of creating individual charts representing views by season, that we will then join together with paper fasteners to demonstrate the way the sky-view changes with the seasons.

Finally, we will use manipulative models to help us move from the two-dimensional plane of the celestial sphere to the three-dimensional space which these stars actually occupy. To comprehend the relationship between the flat, connect-the-dots pictures of the constellations, and this real space with seemingly infinite depth that the stars inhabit, will be difficult for many of the students, and will require clear language and effective demonstrations on the part of the teacher.

Manipulative materials will be used throughout the unit to help students understand the relationship between stars and constellation images, as well as the relationship among stars, and between the stars and the Earth. Transparency overlays will help students "connect-the-dots" between stars to form constellations, by showing where the connecting "lines" should be envisioned. This tangible method of showing what the sky would look like if you actually did connect the dots is fun, and it makes this fluid concept more concrete. Students will create several sky images and develop their own way of demonstrating for the class the way the stars can form the image of a constellation. Students may use pipe cleaners, thread, fabric, collage, watercolor painting on transparencies, glitter, sequins, word collage; in short, students will be encouraged to be creative as they create flat star images, comprised of individual "stars," that are accurate in relative size to portray magnitude. Next they will work with three-dimensional objects to translate the flat pictures into full space models. Collaboration with an arts teacher will be beneficial, although it is not necessary.

The unit will culminate in several different projects. Each student will contribute to at least one, and motivated students will contribute to several and serve as leaders for each project. Students will:

• A) Create four different sky view charts, based on the seasons, to be fitted together to create one large "general sky view chart."
• B) Create a bilingual children's book that teaches the content of our unit to 5 ^th graders. This will let students process the information and exercise creativity in presenting factual information.
• C) Read/perform this book to the 5 ^th grade class at the end of that class' solar system unit, and present a copy to the class as a gift. According to Edgar Dale's "Cone of Learning," people retain 90% of what they teach to someone else, and this will also serve as a community-building exercise within the school. ²

This unit will reinforce the science skills students developed in 5 ^th grade concerning the solar system, and will exercise student's mathematical capabilities by requiring them to make simple calculations in French, comparing the distances, in light years, of the 20 brightest stars from each other. We will develop literacy skills by thinking about how to create a bilingual children's book that relates the knowledge learned. Spatial relationships will be stressed (no pun intended!), and language acquisition will occur with the purpose of following directions and conveying information to others.

Learning about the stars and the constellations they create is much more than a wonderful way to hook students to teach them content, although it is clearly that. The sky is something we all have access to, regardless of cultural or financial background. It is important to teach students to appreciate the world around them, as well as to appreciate that which is free. In this way, basic astronomy knowledge opens the door to sky as canvas, sky as storybook, sky as companion; this further opens the door to other unconventional means of telling stories, conveying information, or experiencing the world. Students need to know that they can and should pursue what interests them, that the possibilities for creation and understanding are endless.

I find it particularly relevant that H.A. Rey, the author of Finding the Constellations and The Stars: A New way to See Them, is perhaps better known as the author of the celebrated Curious George series of books. He was a scientist by profession, and is a great example of how the arts and academics can be integrated. He did not pigeonhole himself into one category, that of scientist or that of author or storyteller; he did what he felt to be right and true to himself and his interests. I teach at an arts magnet school in New Haven, Connecticut and, although this fits perfectly into my school's curriculum, it really has a place in the education of any young person.