Janice VanCleave's Constellations for Every Kid: Easy Activities that Make Learning Science Fun

by Janice VanCleave

Overview

Where can you find Leo the lion?

How can you bring a constellation into your room?

What are the oldest stars?

How did the Milky Way Galaxy get its name?

Now you can explore the answers to these and other questions inJanice VanCleave's Constellations for Every Kid. Find theconstellations Draco, Libra, Hydra, Hercules, and many more fromyour own backyard. Make a star disk that can track star movements.Find out what a balloon can tell us about stars. With activitieslike making an astronomer's flashlight and a shoebox planetarium,Janice VanCleave's Constellations for Every Kid will have youreaching for the stars.

Each of the activities begins with a statement of purpose, followedby a list of materials, step-by-step instructions, expectedresults, and an easy-to-understand explanation. Every activity hasbeen pretested and can be performed safely and inexpensively athome or in the classroom.

Also available in this series from Janice VanCleave:
* ASTRONOMY FOR EVERY KID
* BIOLOGY FOR EVERY KID
* CHEMISTRY FOR EVERY KID
* DINOSAURS FOR EVERY KID
* EARTH SCIENCE FOR EVERY KID
* ECOLOGY FOR EVERY KID
* GEOGRAPHY FOR EVERY KID
* GEOMETRY FOR EVERY KID
* THE HUMAN BODY FOR EVERY KID
* MATH FOR EVERY KID
* OCEANS FOR EVERY KID
* PHYSICS FOR EVERY KID

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780471159797
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	07/15/1997
Series:	Science for Every Kid Series , #115
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.08(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.69(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

JANICE VANCLEAVE loves to teach kids about science. She's the award-winning author of more than 30 books, including the bestselling Science for Every Kid and Spectacular Science Projects series.

Table of Contents

Partial table of contents:

Night Lights: Examining the Lights in the Nighttime Sky.

Changing Sky: Determining Visible Constellations at DifferentLocations.

Around and Around: Locating Northern CircumpolarConstellations.

The Queen: Locating the Constellation Cassiopeia.

The King: Locating the Constellation Cepheus.

Sun Path: Locating the Zodiac Constellations.

The Teapot: Locating the Constellation Sagittarius.

Summertime Patterns: Locating the Summer Constellations.

The Kneeler: Locating the Constellation Hercules.

Autumn Patterns: Locating the Autumn Constellations.

The Hero: Exploring the Constellation Perseus.

Wintertime Patterns: Locating the Winter Constellations.

The Hunter: Locating the Constellation Orion.

Appendices.

Glossary.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 5-8VanCleave turns her attention to the stars in this series entry. Each chapter begins with "What You Need to Know," followed by a "Let's Think It Through" example or two, and includes an activity (most commonly something to make) and several exercises with answers. Simple drawings and diagrams illustrate the various points and principles. After introducing some general concepts ("Night Lights," "Milky Way," "Sky Address," etc.), the author then focuses on a different constellation in each chapter. While ostensibly describing how to locate that constellation, she introduces an impressive array of topics and provides a variety of activities such as constructing an astrolabe and measuring azimuth and altitude, demonstrating precession, and simulating a dark nebula. On the whole, the presentation is clear if a bit dry. However, readers will need to pay careful attention and refer to the diagrams to follow some parts of the discussion. Students looking for the stories associated with constellation names will not find them here, but if they take the time to do the exercises and activities they will learn a great deal about observing stars. With its simple line drawings and "textbooky" format, Constellations probably won't attract browsers, but serious students and teachers will be well rewarded.Elaine Fort Weischedel, Turner Free Library, Randolph, MA

School Library Journal