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Humans have looked up at the stars for hundreds of thousands of years. We’ve grouped them together, categorized them, created stories about them, used them for navigation, and looked to them for inspiration. Our star, the Sun, has fueled our planet and our species, and we are attempting to harness the power of stars to fuel our future.
In this activity, students will brainstorm the varied ways in which we use stars as symbols. Then, they can either watch a video or read an article as they choose their own star adventure to learn more about why and how stars are important to us. Finally, students will use what they’ve learned about stars to do some informal writing about how stars helped us in the past and how they might help us in the future.
Opener: Stars Brain Dump
- Students answer the following questions:
- Who is your favorite movie star?
- What is a star made of?
- How do we use stars as symbols?
- What songs, movies, poems, or artworks reference the stars?
- How do we use stars in our lives today?
- How are we made of “star-stuff”?
- Have students pair up or get into small groups to share and discuss their answers.
Choose your own Star Adventure
- Decide which star adventure you’d like your students to take or allow them to choose their own path from the following options:
- Watch the Big History Project video What Did the Stars Give Us? and complete the chart in the Star Adventure Student Guide.
- Read the World History Project article “Indian Ocean Trade Routes” and complete the chart in the Star Adventure Student Guide.
- Read the Climate Project article “The Solutions We Have and the Innovations We Need” and complete the chart in the Star Adventure Student Guide.
Closer: Beyond the Stars Quick Write
- Students will use evidence from what they’ve learned about stars to answer two of the following questions:
- How have stars influenced our history?
- How will they help us transform our world?
- Are stars as important to humans today as they were in the past? Explain your reasoning.
Cover image: Sun emits a solstice CME, by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, public domain.
