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Science
Quarter 4 – Module 6
Patterns of Stars (Constellation)

Department of Education ● Republic of the Philippines

Lesson Patterns of Stars (Constellation)
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What's In

A group of stars in the sky that make up a

certain pattern is called constellation.

A constellation is an area on the celestial

sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a
perceived outline or pattern, typically representing
an animal, mythological person or creature, or an
inanimate object.

What I Need to Know

There are group of stars in the sky that make up

a certain pattern. Sometimes this pattern is
imaginary. When the sky is clear these stars can be
seen from Earth without the use of a telescope. In
this lesson, you are to identify star patterns that can
be seen at particular times of the year.

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What’s New

Connect the stars to form a star pattern!

Activity A

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 What’s New

Activity B

Constellations are group of stars that form pictures, such as animals or people in the
night sky. This constellation can be seen during summer time.
It is called SAGITTARIUS, or The Archer.

Draw a bow and arrow over this group of stars below.

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What Is It

If you are going to observe the sky on a cloudless

night very keenly, you will notice the patterns formed by
groups of stars. The group of stars that form distinct
pattens on the sky are called constellations.

Map of the Constellation

The ancient people first observed these groups of

stars as outlines of animals, mythological heroes, gods,
and other objects. They found it easier to locate and
remember constellations when they base a pattern
observed to the shape of the object it resembles. For
example, in the Northern Hemisphere, they have
observed group stars which they thought look like a
dragon, and so they called it Draco. In the Southern
Hemisphere, they noticed a group of stars that seemingly
form a cross and so they called it as Southern Cross.
Some other popular constellations are the Ursa Major (Big
Bear), Ursa Minor (Little Bear), Orion, and Cassiopeia.

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Some of the Known Constellations and Stars

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) made a

list of the official modern constellations. There are already
88 constellations on the list, and many of these
constellations were discovered by the ancient Greeks.

Ursa Major resembles a big bear and is the third

largest constellation in the night sky. It includes the Big
Dipper, which is composed of the seven stars, Alkaid,
Alcor, and Mizar (appear as one), Alioth, Megrez, Phecda,
Merak, and Dhube.

Ursa Major (Big Bear)

Ursa Minor or the little bear contains a group of stars

known as the Little Dipper. The handle of the dipper
serves as the little bear's tail and the dipper's cup, is the
Bear's thigh. The most famous star in Ursa Minor is the
Polaris. It is also called the North Star since its position
always points to Earth's North Pole.

Ursa Minor (Little Bear)

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 The Big Dipper and Small Dipper are not
constellations but are asterisms. An asterism is a part of
a constellation that represents another object within the
pattern.
Some constellations are named after Greek
mythology legends. Two of them are Cassiopeia, the
Queen and; Orion, the Hunter.

Cassiopeia consists of five stars that seem to form

the letter W. It represents the queen Cassiopeia of the
mythical kingdom Ethiopia.

Orion is one of the most recognizable constellations

in the night sky and is visible throughout the world. Three
of its stars form its belt. Orion's belt is also an asterism.
On Orion's right shoulder is a red supergiant star called
Betelgeuse. A bluish-white star called Rigel is found on
Orion's left knee.

Cassiopeia Orion

The Polar Constellation

There are some constellations that can be seen only

during certain seasons of the year. These are called North
Polar Constellations and South Polar Constellations. The
constellations nearest the center of the circle can be seen
throughout the year.

The people living in the Northern hemisphere see

constellations different from those living in the Southern
hemisphere. Why do you think so?

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 The star map below show polar constellations in the
northern and southern skies.

Constellations in the Zodiac

The stars appear to keep to the same patterns in the

sky, while the much nearer sun, moon, and planets
appear to move slowly about. However, the sun, moon,
and planets keep to a definite circular belt or path in the
sky called the Zodiac. The Zodiac is an imaginary belt or
path in the heavens that includes the path of the planets.
The belt is 16 degrees wide and the path the sun seems
to follow as viewed from the earth moves along its center.
Therefore, the path of the moon and those of the planets
are within the boundaries of the Zodiac.

The Zodiac contains twelve constellations. They are

the Aquarius, Aries, Cancer, Capricorn, Gemini, Leo,
Libra, Pisces, Sagittarius, Scorpio, Taurus, and Virgo.
Each constellation is represented by a sign or symbol as
shown in the illustration.

The sun moves through the constellation of the

Zodiac as Earth moves. Thus, based on the arrangement
of the constellations in the Zodiac, the sun is said to enter
in the constellation Aries at the beginning of spring (March
21) in the northern hemisphere.

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 Constellations in the Zodiac

Movement of Stars

Why do constellations seem to be fixed or

permanent? Do stars move? The answer is yes. Stars
move just like all the other bodies in the universe.
Galaxies or groups of billions of stars, are also in constant
motion in space.

The set of stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way, are

constantly moving. Each star follows a path around the
center of the galaxy. Our Sun moves around the galaxy
every 240 million years. Stars that are farther than the sun
take a longer time to move around the center of gravity.
Why, then, are the constellations seem to be fixed? It is
because of the distance of the stars to Earth. Since stars
are too far away from us, their motion seems to be
negligible or has a little effect on their positions. This
explains why the constellations seem to retain their shape
even after many years.

There are different constellations in the sky at

different times of the year. The night sky changes over the
year. The earth revolves around the sun, therefore the
stars in the sky we see in June is different from the stars
we see in the sky in December. As a result, the night sky
changes constantly.

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 The Milky Way Galaxy

Usefulness of Constellations

Since ancient times, constellations are always

helpful to people. They used the appearance of certain
stars to forecast weather. When stars are visible, they
expect fair weather. But, when stars are hidden behind the
clouds, the next day may be cloudy or rainy.

Constellations are helpful to navigators, too.

Navigators use their knowledge in astronomy in the
conduct of their work. When the navigators are lost in the
sea, they refer to Polaris, which is in the Ursa Minor. They
use Polaris as their guiding star. Polaris is a fixed star. It
is located at the north. By using the Polaris, it is easy to
find south, east, and west directions. Polaris helps
navigators to determine direction.

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What’s More

You will need:

• a pair of medium-sized magnifying lenses

• 2 cardboard tubes
• Adhesive tape
• Decorative materials (glitters, stickers, etc.)

What to Do

A.
1. Place the lenses on one end of each cardboard tube.
2. Fix the lenses in place by using adhesive tape.
3. Insert one tube onto the other.
4. You may decorate your improvised telescope
5. Use your telescope to observe the stars and
constellations in the night sky.

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You will need:

• a telescope

B.
1. Do some stargazıng.
2. Observe the stars with your naked eyes.
3. Then observe them using your improvised telescope.

Questions

1. Describe the stars as you saw them with your naked

eyes.
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________

2. Describe the stars as you saw them through your

telescope.
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________

You will need:

• bondpaper
• pencil and eraser

C.
Look at the night sky. Use polaris as your reference point
as you have observed to make your own constellation.
Draw you own constellation and name it.

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What I Have Learned

Activity: “Star Gazer Puzzle”

What you need: Bond paper

What to do: Play the Star Finder game:

1. Stick your thumbs and first two fingers

into the four pockets on the bottom of the Star
Finder.

2. Ask another person to choose one of the

top four squares. Then, depending on the number on the
square she chose, open and close the Star Finder that
many times (open up and down, close, open side to side,
close, etc.). For example, if she chose number 6, open
and close the Star Finder 6 times.

3. Then, ask the person to look inside the Star Finder

and pick one of the four visible constellations. This time,
open and close the Star Finder once for each letter to spell
out his choice. For example, if he chose "Orion," you
would open and close the Star Finder 5 times, once for
each letter: O - R - I - O – N

4. Ask the player again to pick one of the four

constellations visible. (Just find constellation being
discussed)

Guide Question:

What are constellations anyway?

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What I Can Do

Activity: “Poster Making”

What you need:

Bond paper, pencil, crayons

What to do:

1. Do your favorite star pattern or constellations.

2. The pupils present their output and tell why this

was their favorite constellation?

Guide Questions:

1. You learned more about constellation and also you

viewed.

2. What is your most favorite star patterns or

constellation? Why

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Summary

➢ A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in

which a group of visible stars forms a perceived outline
or pattern, typically representing an animal,
mythological person or creature, or an inanimate
object.

➢ Some other popular constellations are the Ursa Major

(Big Bear), Ursa Minor (Little Bear), Orion, and
Cassiopeia.

➢ An asterism is a part of a constellation that represents

another object within the pattern. (examples: big
dipper, little dipper)

➢ Stars move just like all the other bodies in the universe.
Galaxies or groups of billions of stars, are also in
constant motion in space.

➢ Constellations are helpful to navigators, too. They refer

to Polaris as their guiding star because it is a fixed star
located at the north so it is easy to find south, east, and
west direction.

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 Assessment:

I. Directions: On the blank, write:

S -if statement A Is true and statement B is false,

T -if statement B is true and statement A is false;

A -if statements A and B are both true; and

R -if statements A and B are both false.

____ 1. A. Constellations are groups of stars that form

distinct patterns in the sky.
B. Constellations can be seen only at nignt.

____ 2. A. Little Dipper and Big Dipper are also

considered as constellations.
B. Little Dipper is found within Ursa Minor.

____ 3 A. Polaris is also known as the South Star

B. Polaris is located in Ursa Major.

____ 4. A. The Cassiopeia constellation forms a letter W

on the sky.
B. The Orion constellation is referred to as the
hunter.

____ 5. A. When the stars are hidden by clouds, there is

a great possibility of rainfall.
B. Navigators use Polaris as their guide in
determining directions.

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II. Directions: Write the correct word/s to complete each
statement.

1. __________ are groups of stars that form distinct

patterns in the sky.

2. There are __________ constellations that are already

identified by astronomers.

3. The _________ or North Star is always pointing to

Earth's north pole.

4. __________ is a constellation that consists or five

stars and seems to form the letter W.

5. The Zodiac contains __________ constellations.

6. The __________ made a list of the official modern

constellations.

7. The Big Dipper is composed of __________ stars.

8. __________ is one of the most recognizable

constellations in the night sky and is visible throughout
the world.

9. Our Sun moves around the galaxy every __________

years.

10. __________ uses guiding star when they are lost in

the sea.

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