Animal Constellations

Who knew that science and art could go together so well? Ok, a lot of us reading this probably thought of that. I was looking through some books at a local book store and I found this gorgeously illustrated book on constellations.

Zoo in the Sky: A Book of Animal Constellations by Jacqueline Mitten

 Christina Balit illustrates the constellations beautifully. The duo also has another book on constellations that' s a must get as well. I knew that I had to show my 4th and 5th grade students this book. It actually worked perfectly because my lesson fit right into their current science unit on space. How awesome?! I designed a lesson where students were able to create their own animal constellation and then write a story explaining it's history.

I read the book to my students. I presented this project to several different classes, so to keep it interesting for myself, I read it different each time. Some classes, I would read selected passages to the students. Other times, I would show the images, have the students guess what constellation was being depicted, and then read to them the history and meaning behind it. Each time, the students were engrossed with the book. They absolutely loved learning about the science and the history behind constellations. Their enthusiasm was contagious!

So on to the project! I love giving open-ended projects to students. I gave each student a pre-cut piece of string and told them to lay it on their piece of black construction paper. The students were to make an interesting line on their paper with the string. I wanted to see squiggles and angles! After the students were satisfied with their line, they were to glue it down. Now for the fun part! Students were instructed to think extra hard as to what animal would that line fit into. In other words, what animal does the line look like? During this part of the instruction, I reminded the students that constellations are similar to connect the dots. This is where technology came in handy! I projected an illustration from the book onto the classroom's white board and connected the dots in the constellation!

After students decided on an animal for their constellation, they used construction paper crayons to draw around their string. When they were finished, glitter was added for the full effect of stars in the nighttime sky. After drawing their animal constellations, students wrote a short story describing the meaning and history behind their creation.

This project highlighted science, history, writing, and art in a fun and unique way that kept students interested throughout. Dragons, Guinea Pigs, Cats, Snakes, Unicorns, and Birds... I saw some amazing animals and artwork! Adding glitter didn't hurt either, everything is better with glitter!

There's always that one student who has to be different! Oh well, I love the creativity!