Review the two key celestial objects that students have learned about so far—the Sun and the Moon. Discuss how the data students have collected has shown that the Sun changes position in the sky and that the appearance of the Moon changes, and that this typically occurs in a repeated pattern.

If students have not yet identified stars, ask them what else, besides the Moon, they can see in the night sky.

You might also review any relevant questions students posed about stars.

Show the image of the stars in the Scorpius and Orion constellations found on page 1 of the Star patterns Resource sheet.

Explain to students that people all through history have often looked at the stars and seen pictures in their patterns. These pictures of people, objects and animals have been used to guide travelers and tell what time of year it was for centuries.

Challenge students to connect the dots, which represent the position of stars in the night sky, with lines to make their own pictures. This can be done as a class, or you can provide students with individual images of the dot patterns.

Next, show students the images of the Scorpius and Orion constellations with the drawings overlaid on page 2 of the Star patterns Resource sheet. Tell the story from Greek mythology attached to these constellations, found on page 3 of the resource sheet.

Also share and discuss how the Yolngu people in Arnhem land saw the Orion constellation, and the story they told to explain it. This can be found on Australian Indigenous Astronomy and ABC Science’s The First Astronomers.

Pose the question: If the Sun and Moon appear to move in the sky, do the stars move also?

Show students the image of the Southern Cross on Page 4 of the Star patterns Resource sheet. Explain that the Southern Cross is a very important constellation, particularly in the countries in the Southern Hemisphere like Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. This is because the Southern Cross can be seen all year round in those countries.

Note: The Southern Cross can be seen in the sky in the Northern Hemisphere, but its visibility depends on the location, time of year, and time of night, and is not year-round.

Discuss where else students may have seen a depiction of the Southern Cross (it appears on the Australian flag, as well as the flags of New Zealand, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, and Brazil) and the significance of its appearance on the Australian flag.

Introduce the Stellarium Web Online Star Map. Ensure the location is set to your location, using the autolocation function or by clicking on the location at the bottom right. Spend some time looking at the night sky in the Star Map.

Next, locate the Southern Cross from your location. See the embedded professional learning Using the Stellarium Web Online Star Map below for guidance on how to locate the Southern Cross.

Show students how the date and time can be changed on the Star Map by clicking on the date and time in the bottom right, and set the date and time to show how the Southern Cross would have appeared in the night sky the previous evening. Explain that together you are going to use this function to track the Southern Cross over the course of a night and the course of a month.

Select one of the stars in the Southern Cross so that it is highlighted on screen. Ask students to watch what happens to the stars over the course of the night, then move the clock forward by an hour at a time.

Discuss what students observed.

Note: You can track the position of your highlighted star during daylight hours as well, when the star is not visible in the sky. This can help students to understand that the stars are still there during the day but can’t be seen (because of the brightness of the Sun’s light). This concept may be confusing for students, so determine if it is appropriate for your class, or perhaps introduce it later in the lesson during the Integrate step.

Return the Star Map to today’s date and now track the position of the Southern Cross over a month by moving the date forward one day at a time. Record this position to create a ‘map’ showing how the stars appear to move across the sky, marking one star in the constellation, and the time/date it was in that position.

There are several suggestions for how you might create this map. See the Materials list at the top of the page for more information.

Discuss the movement of the stars that students observed, both over the course of a single night and over the course of a month.

Using the Emu in the sky Resource sheet, read about and discuss how Australia's First Nations People used the patterns they observed in the sky to help them live on and care for Country.

Further information can also be found in the book The First Scientists by Corey Tutt (2021).

Reflect on the lesson 

You might:

• add words and images to the class word wall.
• re-examine the intended learning goals for the lesson and consider how they were achieved.
• discuss how students were thinking and working like scientists during the lesson.
  • Focus on how students were using digital tools and information recorded by others to support their observations of stars. Discuss why these tools were used (powerful equipment is required to photograph and map the stars).
• ask students to locate the visible stars of the Milky Way in the sky, and try to make out and track the changing shape of the Emu in the sky across the year.