The Stellarium website has really impressed me! I will definitely be using it in school as a resource and at home on a clear night too!
Here is how I might use it in my 2nd class classroom.
I would use images of the old Greek depictions of the constellations as a stimulus. I would ask the students what they think they are and how they think they might link to our theme of ‘space’.
I would introduce the students to the Stellarium programme, displaying it in the interactive whiteboard. I would show them the night sky from the previous night over Cork. I would ask them if if they could guess what time sunset was the previous night and what time sunrise was that morning, and then show them how it can be displayed on Stellarium.
I would show them major constellations, such as the Big Dipper, Orion and Cassiopeia. I would ask students to pick specific stars or objects in the night sky that they would like to know more information on. We could select them and find out more information on them such as if they are a satellite or a star, and their name, characteristics, etc.
I would draw the children’s attention to the fact that the constellations appear to move across the night sky and see if anyone can suggest a reason for why this appears to be happening (i.e. due to the Earth’s rotation).
I would pause the night sky at a set time and display the constellations on the board at that time. On a black piece of paper, I would get the students to choose some constellations to draw and label from the night sky at that time using white chalk. They would entitle it ‘The Sky above Cork at 1 a.m. on 18th of September looking North’ (or similar).
Following on from this activity, I would try to deduce from the students how you might use the stars and constellations to find directions.
The Stellarium programme could be used for many more applications than just investigating stars though. It could also be used for sunrise/sunset, seasons and the shortening of the days, planets, Earth’s rotation, etc.