Spooky Skies - Halloween Constellations

Activity

This activity was used as part of a live online lesson for almost 1,000 learners in Scotland between the ages of 6 and 13 years old. We put a spooky twist on the Apple Creative 'Reveal a Constellation' activity to make it Halloween themed, and linked it to some STEM learning about stars and constellations. 

You can find the full pre-recorded video here:

Lesson Plan

First I taught pupils about famous constellations and stars, along with some fun facts about light years.

We then used this website to investigate how cultures across the world have different constellations and the myths and legends that surround these.

We then used their iPads to open the Stellarium VR website and investigate the stars and constellations that they can see right above their heads in Falkirk.

Now that the pupils knew a bit about constellations, we introduced the new Apple Creative Activity for Early Learners 'Create a Constellation' and walked pupils through creating their very own Halloween-themed constellations.

Finally, we sent pupils away to choose one of three extension activities (again all based on other new Creative Activities for Students/ Early Learners).

Results

Pupils were encouraged to submit their finished constellations and to celebrate their wonderful results we created a unique Halloween 'Falkirk Night Sky Map' made up of 300+ examples of pupil constellations. You can find the full high-quality map here.