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The Night Sky

Four short lessons for looking up: why the stars cross the night, why the Moon changes shape, how to tell a planet from a star, and how far the light has come.

For grown-ups, from what CosmosForge teaches children at Spark & Anvil.

  1. Lesson 1Why the stars move
  2. Lesson 2Why the Moon changes shape
  3. Lesson 3Planet or star?
  4. Lesson 4Old light
At the table · 2 or more, any ages

The window-sky table

You'll need: A clear evening, a window or a yard, paper and a pencil.

  1. Pick one bright star or planet and sketch where it sits next to a roof, tree or chimney.
  2. Look again an hour later and mark where it is now. Which way did it move?
  3. Talk it over: is it moving, or are we? Does it twinkle?
  4. Over a few weeks, sketch the Moon each night you can see it and line the drawings up.

Print the guidebook (all lessons + the table activity) →