Science lesson TPACK

The lesson that my group created used the program Stellarium. This program helps you visualize constellations, the sky, and many other things. The content area of the activity used the sixth grade core standard 4 which states that students will understand the scale of size, distance between objects, movement, and apparent motion (due to Earth’s rotation) of objects in the universe and how cultures have understood, related to and used these objects in the night sky. Using objective 2, indicator a, locate and identify stars that are grouped in patterns in the night sky, the students performed an activity to identify constellations that are shapes of geometric figures. 

The pedagogy that I have demonstrated by using this program will help students understand space better. It can be a confusing thing, and by using a program like Stellarium you will help the students understand it better. Before the activity, it will be helpful to introduce the students to a number of different constellations. By doing so, the students will get a better understanding of what a constellation actually is.  

The technology we used helped enhance this activity by letting the students interact with a real sky. It is hard for students to visualize the stars, and constellations are often times hard to identify.By being aware of this program, I am able to help my students learn and understand the universe a little better. Using this program, you can see the constellations up close, and see how they created shapes. The technology influences how the students learn. I am a very visual learner, and seeing the constellations drawn out really helps me see what shape they actually are. This activity allows you to become a more effective teacher, and it shows that you know how to integrate other subjects into others. This lesson integrates geometry and science. These two subjects can be a little tough to understand, and by doing an activity like this, you are able to understand it a little better.