Science Experiment: “Twinkling Stars and Bright Lights”
Students will learn that stars give off light, just like a light bulb or a torch, and will explore how stars twinkle in the night sky.
Materials:
Torch (one for each group), a large piece of black sugar paper, a pin or toothpick to poke holes,Sellotape, a box that can be used to create darkness
Have the students help you poke small holes in the paper with a pin or toothpick. These holes will represent stars. Use a large box to cover the “starry sky” so that the torch can shine through the holes, mimicking stars.
Begin by explaining to the students that stars are like giant light bulbs in the sky, but much, much bigger and farther away. Ask if they’ve ever seen stars at night and what they think makes them twinkle. Use the resource from Esero ‘Lots and lots of stars’ and show them the picture ‘discussion sheet’ on lesson 13. Watch the GAIA and 1 billion stars animation video and discuss.
Give each group of students a torch. Have them turn on the torch and shine it at the sugar paper, projecting the “stars” on the inside of the dark box. Let them see how the light shines through the holes like stars in the night sky. Ask students to gently shake or wiggle the torch while it’s turned on. This simulates the twinkling effect they see in the night sky, helping them understand that stars give off light, and the atmosphere makes them appear to twinkle.
Bring the students back together and ask them to share what they observed. Did the “stars” look different when the torch was moved? Explain that real stars don’t move or twinkle themselves, but the light we see from them sometimes appears to twinkle because of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Ask the students what they learned about stars. Reinforce the idea that stars are faraway objects that give off their own light, which we can see even though they are very far away.
Integrate with art: Follow up lesson could be the ‘Lots and lots of stars’ art activity where they ‘make a starry sky’ using a toothbrush, paint, and paper.