How to explain to little kids about constellation?

how would i explain to younger kids about 10-12, that constellations or the the stars in the potpan, arnt close to each other but are far away, but look as if they are in line??How to explain to little kids about constellation?Try standing the kids at one end of the garden, and get two balls - one big and one small - at the other end. Put the small ball closer to them and the big ball far from them, and make sure that, from where the kids are, they line up. Then get the kids to crouch down and see how big each one looks. They're about similar, right? Wrong. Now imagine each ball is a star, and one's way bigger than the other, while they're both at different distances from Earth. That should explain it to them.



There are probably other ways too. I mean, I would have expected that a 10-12 year old would understand even just a verbal explanation...? The ball metaphor's probably better for younger kids.How to explain to little kids about constellation?
Elizabeth H has pointed to an article of mine about relative positions in the solar system, but you're asking something quite different. One way might be to several balls of different sizes, such as a ball bearing, a golf ball, and a beach ball, and give each to a kid. Then have a fourth kid look with one eye at the other three through a small hole in a piece of cardboard, and adjus the distances until all three balls look the same size through the hole. This actually shows three different sizes rather than three different magnitudes, but the idea is the same.How to explain to little kids about constellation?Do you mean the Big Dipper? (Note that this isn't a true constellation, but a smaller collection of stars within Ursa Major called an asterism.)



http://www.space.com/spacewatch/big_dipp鈥?/a>



Maybe place some balls in a row in the middle of a desk; then move one to front edge and another to back edge - they still appear in a line (when viewed from the correct angle), but they are at vastly different distances. Depth-of-field concept is important to teach and some people have trouble grasping it.How to explain to little kids about constellation?
Staging a Solar System Play



I do a lot of classroom presentations on basic astronomy. My favourite exercise is to build a working model of the solar system using the children in the classroom. By this I mean using the actual kids to represent the objects in the solar system along with the starry universe around it, with the help of Starry Night!

http://www.starrynighteducation.com/feat鈥?/a>How to explain to little kids about constellation?I would think kids 10 - 12 would grasp that concept.



So just tell them that they're of different distances from Earth.How to explain to little kids about constellation?
Okay, you want to understand space. I love Twinkies. I took a picture of my favorite treat, in my favorite place. Then, I walked, I walked far away. I got so far away, that I could no longer see my place, but I have this photograph of a Twinkies in my place, so I know, it is.
Don't bother. Teach them how to make money. That is all that matters anymore.