The astronomer Carl Sagan stated, “The cosmos is within us; we are made of star stuff; we are a way for the universe to know itself”.  This belief, that the Universe is within us and that we are a part of it and also its future, is an ideal that we can give our students.  Within this four-week unit, students will learn about the life and characteristics of a star.  Students will learn about how stars are categorized by color, temperature, visibility, distance, mass, luminosity, apparent brightness and sounds.  Students will catalog information about stars into an interactive journal and into a concept map about stars.  The knowledge of the components of a star, will then be used to form a Class Cosmos, where students will create their own Star. They will classify the different characteristics of their star in an official chart, as well as chart the star on an astronomical diagram, and then create a model.  The synthetic star that the students create will also be cataloged in their interactive journals.  Students will complete a display board that shows the characteristics of their star.  These stars will be put together into a whole class display and presentation. 

(Developed for Science, grade 4; recommended for Astronomy, grades 9-12, and Science, grades K-8)