Constellation of the Year

A WebQuest for the Stars

Introduction

Being a constellation is hard work. Every night, you are forced to freeze in your position in space while the people of Earth gawk at you. After an extremely grueling night of constellation work, you come home, hit the couch, and try to relax by watching some television. That's when you see the commercial that could change your life. There is a contest being held for the Constellation of the Year. The winner gets to take a year off of night sky duty and vacation to a galaxy of his or her choice. You've got to win that contest!

* Go to the bottom of the page to see the commercial!

The Task

You will learn about some of the major constellations in our night sky. From your research, you will decide which constellation is the most worthy for the Constellation of the Year award. You will then make a campaign poster and give a speech (as your constellation) to try to convince the contest judges that your constellation should win the award and take a year off.

The Process

1 . Click on the links below and read about the major constellations in our night sky. Find one constellation story that really interests you. You will assume that constellation's identity for the rest of the project.

Constellation Resources:
The Constellations and Their Stars
Enchanted Learning: Constellations
Dome of the Sky: Constellation List
The Constellations

Can't find enough information in the Constellation Resources? Try one of this kid-friendly search engines:

Yahooligans!
KidsClick!
Ask Jeeves Kids

2 . Take notes about your constellation use the Constellation Research Notes sheet.

* To print off a research notes sheet, go to the bottom of this page.

3 . Once you know about your constellation, write a persuasive speech that you will read aloud to the class. This speech should include a good introduction and conclusion as well as many arguments for why you should be the Constellation of the Year. Don't forget to practice your speech before it is your turn to present your case to the contest judges.

4 . Make a campaign poster that will convince the judges that you are the most worthy constellation in the contest. 

Evaluation

You will be evaluated on the following elements of this project:

* Researching Skills
* Persuasive Speech
* Oral Presentation
* Campaign Poster

* To see the rubric used to score the students, go to the bottom of this page.

Conclusion 

At the end of this project, you will not only know about your constellation but about many others in the night sky. Fill out the Constellations Reflection sheet to share what you have learned.

* The Constellations Reflection sheet is located at the bottom of this page.