This stars and constellations unit study for kids is perfect for the whole family to dive into together! This unit study is divided into ten specific topics, covering all aspects of learning about the stars.
Best of all – this unit study is all about the fun, hands on learning! Learning in this way helps children to really engage in the topics and makes learning meaningful and deep.
This unit Stars and Constellations Unit Study includes these specific topics:
- What is a Star?
- Lifecycle of a Star
- The Sun
- Polaris
- What is a constellation
- Cassiopeia
- Orion
- Draco the Dragon
- Ursa Major
- The Big Dipper
This unit study was such a fun one to explore. Even my toddler could join in on the homeschooling fun with this one! She loved playing with the salt dough as we explored constellations.
Within our Stars and Constellations Unit Study, each of the 10 topics include:
- a hands on activity
- a curated YouTube video
- book suggestions
- a math or literacy enrichment activity
- an interesting fact
- a discussion question
I wanted to give you a peek at what to expect within this Unit Study! Here are the 10 topics covered with our Weather Unit Study:
(to check out this full unit study, or to order it and get immediate access, check it out here)
1. What is a star?
As we dove in to our readings included with this unit study we discovered exactly what a star is. We learned it is a burning ball of hydrogen and helium that produces gases and light. We then created our own night sky by doing some splatter painting!
2. Life Cycle of a Star
Did you know that a star has a lifecycle? We learned all about the lifecycle of a star in this unit study. We then researched the included diagram and created our own star life cycle diagram using salt dough! It was such a fun way to really solidify all we learned. Shaping the different sized balls out of salt dough and then painting them the various colours was a great homeschooling project!
3. The Sun
The sun is our closest star. Did you know that it takes 8.2 minutes for light from the sun to reach up on Earth? That was our interesting fact to go along with learning about this topic – so cool! Our hands on activity for this one was creating a papier mache sun! The sensory learning was an added bonus for my toddler, and my big kids loved this homeschooling project as well.
4. Polaris
Polaris is also known as the North Star and we found ut exactly how to find this star with a neat flashlight constellation activity! We printed off the included printable of the big dipper and the little dipper, glued it onto cardboard and poked out the holes. When we added a flashlight we could see exactly how the handles line up and point to Polaris! We then went outside and tried to find Polaris in the night sky using our new skills.
5. What is a constellation?
This was when our Stars and Constellations Unit Study started to get REALLY interesting. My boys LOVED learning about constellations! Once we learned what a constellation was and how they originated, we copied some constellations onto paper with white chalk, added in a bunch of other chalk stars, and then switched papers to do a constellations search and find!
6. Cassiopeia
The constellation of Cassiopeia is very simple – just 5 stars in the shape of a “w”, but the accompanying myth is very elaborate! For the hands on activity with this topic, we got to create our own myths and constellations that could go along with this “w” shaped star formation. A duck and a dolphin took over Cassiopeia’s thrown!
7. Orion
Now this hands on activity for our Stars and Constellations Unit Study was the biggest hit of all – of course, I think this was only because I let my little ones eat their constellations afterwards! We used pretzels and mini marshmallows to create the Orion constellation. It was a great way to learn how many stars are in that constellation and to add some math and engineering to our day.
8. Draco the Dragon
The constellation of Draco the Dragon is my little ones FAVOURITE myth. So I knew this topic would be a big hit. It was actually the biggest HIT! We used a hammer and nails to create this constellation on wood. So many amazing skills were learned and it was so much fun.
9. Ursa Major
We whipped up another batch of salt dough to make these amazing salt dough constellations! We used the included constellation pictures, covered them with waxed paper and traced them, filling in the constellation shape with salt dough. We then poked holes through the salt dough where the stars appeared and popped it in the oven. When they were hard we shone a flashlight through and watched BOTH the constellation animal appear and the star formation!
10. Big Dipper
Finally, we finished our Stars and Constellations unit study by making a star clock – have you ever done this? It is pretty much the coolest thing ever! We printed off the included star clock template and put it together. We then went outside, used the big dipper to find Polaris and faced it. We turned the outer white circle to match our current month. We then turned the inner black circle to match the Big Dipper on that circle to the Big Dipper in the night sky. The time of night then appeared in the window! I mean – how awesome is that?
When we dive into unit studies we don’t necessarily do all ten topics. We play it by ear and see what the kids are into. But this stars and constellations unit study had my children’s attention from the very first topic to the last! We did all ten topics from this unit study. I just love when they LOVE learning.
Would you like to get this Stars and Constellations Unit Study? You will receive it immediately in your email. It includes:
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All instructions and printables for the Hands On Activities
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Curated YouTube videos with information about each of the 10 topics
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A booklist for the library
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A math or literacy enrichment activity for each of the 10 topics
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An interesting fact for each topic
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And a discussion question for each topic (perfect for journal writing!)
You can grab your Stars and Constellations Unit Study right here!
And if you would like to check out ALL of the Unit Studies I currently have available, you can find them right here.
Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know if you have any questions,
xo
Sarah
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