Teacher’s notes
How different cultures name constellations
Integrated strands
Science concept
A group of stars looks different when viewed from different places on Earth.
Nature of Science Theme
- Science interacts with other cultures…
- Science can draw on traditional understandings.
DSSA Investigation Focus
- Students’ relationships with other people affect their investigations…
- Students may engage more readily with investigations that relate to cultures they value.
Rationale
Constellations can be known in different forms and by different names in different cultures. They were often used in stories to record knowledge important to the people of the culture.
Activity
Curriculum level 3-4 Planet Earth and beyond Topic
Space
Type of investigation
Researching
Prior to this activity
- Make sure students have access to southern hemisphere star charts.
Southern hemisphere star charts can be found in:
- the Ministry of Education’s space posters and picture pack
- on the inside covers of Making Better Sense of Planet Earth and Beyond
- local planetariums or observatories
- on the New Zealand flag (representation of the Southern Cross constellation).
- A useful preparation/reference for this activity is Activities 1 and 2, pp. 11–13 in The night sky: Patterns, observations, and traditions, Building Science Concepts, Book 28.
What you need
For each group:
- southern hemisphere star charts
- northern hemisphere star charts and illustrations of constellations from other geographic locations.
Note: Supporting activity resources are provided below.
Focus
- How did the star constellations get their names?
- What stories do you know about star constellations?
- Why are some constellations given different names by peoples of different cultures?
- In the stories that relate to constellations, are there any similarities between cultures?
- Why did ancient cultures use stories about constellations used to keep information alive?
- How do constellation stories relate to astrology?
Exploration
- Using the southern hemisphere star charts, get students to choose a constellation with a locally named pattern, for example, the Southern Cross, the Pot (Orion’s Belt), or Te Whare o te Whiu or Te Matau a Maui (Scorpius).
- Have them identify the outline of a constellation and suggest their own versions of names that reflect its shape, giving reasons for their suggestions.
- Discuss the names they have chosen and compare them with the classical names of the constellations.
- Get the students to compare the northern hemisphere charts with the southern hemisphere ones.
- Have them present their findings in a chart showing the same constellations as viewed from two different locations.
- Have them include in the chart the names given to different constellations
by different cultural groups, for example:
- the Māori Matariki compared with the Greek Pleiades
- Orion’s Belt compared with The Pot.
- Have them note and explain the similarities and differences in the way the shape of the constellation had been interpreted from different cultural and geographic perspectives.
Extension
- What is the significance of Matariki to Māori people?
- How did Māori navigators use the stars to guide them from Hawaiki to Aotearoa?
Reflection
- How do present-day scientists decide on names for new things they discover in the Universe?
- Do you think there is a right way to name constellations? Why/why not?
- How do names influence the ways we think about things?
- Does comparing ideas about different names for the constellations help us understand them better?