Stars

Stars

Have you ever looked at the sky at night and wondered about all the stars you see? Are they just pretty lights in the sky or are they FOR SALE???? In this WebQuest you will be a real estate agent that has the task of selling your assigned star to the highest bidder. Sales will be conducted at the end of the quest. You will need to find specific information about your star in order to prepare your sales pitch. Some of the questions that you might want to consider are:

What is a star?
Are all stars the same?
Can life exist without stars?
Where is your star located?
What is special about your star?

You may add more questions as you think of them. By the end of the quest, you should be able to convince your audience that your star is the one to buy.

Task

By the end of your quest, you will need to use the information you have found to create an poster. You will use this poster to give an oral presentation that presents information about your star to the prospective buyers. Remember that you are a real estate agent and you are trying to sell your star. Use all of your sales pitch powers to persuade the buyers that your star it the best!

Process

Worksheets and Assignments

Get a copy of handout #1 to use to gather information you find at the web sites.
Visit web sites to gather information about your star.
Using Inspiration, organize your information into sections.
Add notes on each section.
Find or make pictures to use on your poster.
Make a rough sketch of your poster design. Get it approved by your teacher before going on to the next step.
Create your poster.
Create your oral presentation and practice it.
Present your information and sell your star.
Use your Star Money to purchase items in the silent auction.

Resources

Computers with access to the WWW
Materials for poster construction
Program, Inspiration
Word processing program
Internet sites listed in student resource section

Useful sites
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/
This is where everyone needs to begin. Get some background information about stars. Then see if your star or your star's constellation is listed.

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/universe_level1/stars.html
Make sure you visit this site. It has great information that is easy to understand.

http://www.kidsastronomy.com/stars.htm
Learn about stars colors and other basic information.

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/explore/astronomy-and-time/astronomy-facts/stars/what-is-a-star
Lots of background information.

http://www.universetoday.com/guide-to-space/stars/interesting-facts-about-stars/
Interesting star facts.

Constellation sites
http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/extra/constellations.html

http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellations.html
List of individual constellations.

http://domeofthesky.com/clicks/constlist.html

Sites about specific stars
http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/starname_list.html
This site has a list with many of the stars. It also has background information.

http://www.constellationsof words.com/Fixedstars.htm
Everyone needs to visit here for information about your specific star.

List of major stars.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polaris
Polaris

http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/polaris.html
Polaris

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castor_(star)
Castor

http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/castor.html
Castor

http://www.siriusrising.com/sirius.htm
Sirius

http://www.janis.or.jp/users/kitahara/sww/e-sirius-z.html
Sirius

http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/vega.html
Vega

http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/betelgeuse.html
Betelgeuse

http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/rigel.html
Rigel

http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/altair.html
Altair

http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/aldebaran.htmlcl
Aldebaran

http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/pollux.html
Pollux

http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/deneb.html
Deneb

http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/procyon.html
Procyon

http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/capella.html
Capella

http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/arcturus.html
Arcturus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulus
Regulus

http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/regulus.html
Regulus

http://www.eclipse.net/~cmmiller/BH/blkpre.html
Neutron stars

Mythology of the stars
http://www.coldwater.k12.mi.us/lms/planetarium/myth/index.html

http://www.comfychair.org/~cmbell/myth/myth.html

Evaluation

The evaluation for this quest will include:

Content of display
Oral presentation
Poster design

Conclusion

Upon completion of this webquest, you should be able to explain what a star is and how they are alike and different from each other. You should also have some knowledge about constellations.

Questions to think about---

Why are stars important to man?
Do they all give off the same amounts and types of light?
What are black holes?
How does the Hubble Telescope help us learn more about stars?

Background : http://www.backgroundsarchive.com/sample.php?categoryID=10&id=238

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Created by: Muggs Murphy

Created on: 05/16/2006
Last Updated On: 11/1/08