My Sky Exhibit
  • Home
  • About My Sky
  • Tour the Universe
  • Secrets of the Sky
  • For Parents


  
About My Sky About My Sky


Helping Your Child Experience Science and the Natural World.

Why Look Up With Your Child?

The foundations of scientific learning lie in inquiry and exploration, a process of active, experiential learning. Young children are naturally curious. They wonder what things are called, how they work, and why things happen. Fostering young children's sense of curiosity about the natural world around them can promote a lifelong interest in it. Adults can accelerate this process by engaging with children as they explore the physical world. Encouraging investigation, asking questions, sharing discoveries, and doing projects that use all the senses helps establish basic science skills - the habits of mind - that prepare them for bigger challenges, and that can be applied to all areas of endeavor.

The sky is a fantastic, and free, science learning resource. There are countless opportunities for you and your child to use the sky as a way to practice science skills - the same skills that physicists, astronomers and other scientists use all the time. The more you look up together, notice things and talk about what you see, the more science skills your child will develop, including observing, communicating, predicting, estimating, recognizing patterns, and testing ideas.

The best part is that your job is not to know all of the answers - it is to share your child's interest and ask questions like "Wow - did you see that?" and "What do you think that was?" Ask these kinds of questions and you will support your child's scientific discovery.



Simple Science Activities You and Your Kids Can Do at Home

Science Activities You and your Kids Can Do at Home

Shadow Science
Practice your science skills of making predictions, observing and finding patterns and learn more about the Sun by trying this activity together: In the morning, use some chalk to trace your child's shadow on your driveway or a sidewalk (or your child can trace your shadow). Write the time down inside the shadow. Come back an hour later, stand on the same spot and trace the shadow again. Do this a few more times - what do you notice? Try this activity again 6 months later. How have the shadows changed?
Practice your science skills of making predictions, observing and finding patterns at home by creating a Moon Journal! Pick a month of the year and look in the sky together every night. What does the Moon look like on the first night? Make a quick sketch of its shape. Repeat this each night of the month. Do you notice any patterns? Try it again next month. Does your journal look the same? If you would like instructions and a printable journal page you can find a good one here: http://www.nwf.org/kids/family-fun/outdoor-activities/moon-journal.aspx.
Learn more about the phases of the Moon, and practice your science skills of making predictions, observing and finding patterns by trying this activity: on a sunny day when you see the Moon high in the sky (yes, this does happen!), have your child hold a tennis or golf ball at arm's length so that it appears right next to the Moon. The ball will appear to have the same "phase" as the Moon!
Have you ever looked up at a cloud and imagined that it looks like a rabbit, or a bicycle, or a bowl of guacamole? Try that with your child once in a while - look up and tell each other what objects you see. And try the same thing with constellations - look for a group of stars, and challenge each other to come up with some new constellations. Then try to find them on another night! Just by doing that you will be helping your child practice science skills like finding patterns, observing, communicating, imagining and thinking creatively.
Albert Einstein once famously said "Imagination is more important than knowledge." Knowledge is limited to what has already been discovered...but imagination is boundless. All scientific discovery starts with someone imagining, wondering, being inspired. There are few better ways to stoke your child's imagination than through reading, so find some books - both non-fiction and fiction books - about the sky , the universe or anything else your child is interested in, and see where their imagination takes them.
There is little more peaceful or rewarding experience than lying down on the ground with your child, looking up at the Moon, the stars or the clouds and just wondering. Aloud or in silence, it doesn't matter. Just by doing that, you are being the good parent that you know you are, because you are helping your child to practice their science skills of observing, communicating, finding patterns, testing ideas and imagining.
The Moon has lots of details that you and your child can observe just by looking up. The Moon looks different every night and depending on where it is in the sky, it looks bigger or smaller. You can even see the Moon during the day - that's unexpected! Ask your child about their Moon observations, and build their science skills of observing, communicating and finding patterns in the process!
The most accurate predictor of a student's achievement is how supportive their parents are in their learning. Want to engage your child in science? The best thing you can do is share their enthusiasm. Help them find books, websites and other resources that feed their interest. Challenge them with interesting questions, which will help them practice those science skills like observing, communicating, estimating and finding patterns. And most importantly, get outside and look up! The view of your sky is much better out there!
Look for constellations, the Moon, and planets on a series of nights. What does your child notice? They will begin to recognize that the same constellations appear in the same order. They'll also notice that the Moon looks a little different every night, but looks the same again about every four weeks. Look for these repeated relationships and you will be helping your child to develop their science skills of observing, communicating, predicting and finding patterns.
The best indicator of your child's future interest in science is not how much they know, it's whether they LIKE science. Encourage your child to invent stories about the universe. Ask them to write them down, or create drawings based on their imaginings. Maybe they can even act out their story or make a movie. Fuel your child's imagination about the universe and you will be helping her to develop her interest in science!
You don't need to know the name of every star and constellation. Actually, no one can name them all! But if you find a few favorites, and learn how to spot them, you and your child can search the skies for them together. By doing that, you will be helping your child to develop their science skills of observing, communicating, predicting and finding patterns.
Shadow Science
Shadow Drawing
Practice your science skills of making predictions, observing and finding patterns and learn more about the Sun by trying this activity together: In the morning, use some chalk to trace your child's shadow on your driveway or a sidewalk (or your child can trace your shadow). Write the time down inside the shadow. Come back an hour later, stand on the same spot and trace the shadow again. Do this a few more times - what do you notice? Try this activity again 6 months later. How have the shadows changed?
Moon Journals
Moon Journals
Practice your science skills of making predictions, observing and finding patterns at home by creating a Moon Journal! Pick a month of the year and look in the sky together every night. What does the Moon look like on the first night? Make a quick sketch of its shape. Repeat this each night of the month. Do you notice any patterns? Try it again next month. Does your journal look the same? If you would like instructions and a printable journal page you can find a good one here: http://www.nwf.org/kids/family-fun/outdoor-activities/moon-journal.aspx.
Moon Phases
Moon and Earth
Learn more about the phases of the Moon, and practice your science skills of making predictions, observing and finding patterns by trying this activity: on a sunny day when you see the Moon high in the sky (yes, this does happen!), have your child hold a tennis or golf ball at arm's length so that it appears right next to the Moon. The ball will appear to have the same "phase" as the Moon!
Sky Art
Sky Art
Have you ever looked up at a cloud and imagined that it looks like a rabbit, or a bicycle, or a bowl of guacamole? Try that with your child once in a while - look up and tell each other what objects you see. And try the same thing with constellations - look for a group of stars, and challenge each other to come up with some new constellations. Then try to find them on another night! Just by doing that you will be helping your child practice science skills like finding patterns, observing, communicating, imagining and thinking creatively.
Looking Up
Looking Up
There is little more peaceful or rewarding experience than lying down on the ground with your child, looking up at the Moon, the stars or the clouds and just wondering, aloud or in silence, it doesn't matter. Just by doing that, you are helping your child to practice his science skills of observing, communicating, finding patterns, testing ideas and imagining.
Observing the Moon
Observing the Moon
The Moon has lots of details that you and your child can observe just by looking up. The Moon looks different every night and depending on where it is in the sky, it looks bigger or smaller. You can even see the Moon during the day - that's unexpected! Ask your child about her Moon observations, and build her science skills of observing, communicating and finding patterns in the process!
Shared Interests
Shared Interests
Want to engage your child in science? The best thing you can do is share his enthusiasm. Help him find books, websites and other resources that feed his interest. Challenge him with interesting questions, which will help him practice those science skills like observing, communicating, estimating and finding patterns. And most importantly, get outside and look up! The view of your sky is much better out there!
Patterns at Night
Patterns at Night
Look for constellations, the Moon, and planets on a series of nights. What does your child notice? She will begin to recognize that the same constellations appear in the same order. She'll also notice that the Moon looks a little different every night, but looks the same again about every four weeks. Look for these repeated relationships and you will be helping your child to develop her science skills of observing, communicating, predicting and finding patterns.
Creative Astronomy
Creative Astronomy
The best indicator of your child's future interest in science is not how much they know, it's whether they LIKE science. Encourage your child to invent stories about the universe. Ask him to write them down, create drawings, or act out his imaginings. Fuel your child's imagination about the universe and you will be helping him to develop her interest in science!
Find Your Favorites
Find Your Favorites
You don't need to know the name of every star and constellation. Actually, no one can name them all! But if you find a few favorites, and learn how to spot them, you and your child can search the skies for them together. By doing that, you will be helping your child to develop her science skills of observing, communicating, predicting and finding patterns.

Resources for More Information

SUN:
  • http://www.helioviewer.org/ - Want to create your own movies and images of the Sun at home? Visit this Website and you can create your own free beautiful Sun movies using real satellite images from NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory!
MOON:
  • http://lro.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  • http://moon.nasa.gov/home.cfm
  • http://wechoosethemoon.org/
STARS:
  • Hubble Space Telescope Images - http://hubblesite.org/
  • Music from the Universe - In the My Sky exhibit, visitors are introduced to Wanda Diaz Merced. Wanda is an astrophysicist from Puerto Rico who is blind. Wanda studies the universe by turning measurements of x-rays into music, and listening for patterns. This method of "sonifying" data, or turning measurements and numbers into sound patterns, enables Wanda and other scientists to listen for patterns that might be more difficult to notice just by looking at the data. Here are some Websites that share more about Wanda, the sounds she has created, and other projects that study the universe through sound:
    • http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sed/projects/star_songs/pages/xraytosound.html
    • http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/about/people/Wanda_Diaz-Merced.html
    • http://www.studio360.org/story/128509-blind-astrophysicist/
    • http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sed/projects/star_songs/pages/soundtomusic.html
    • http://prediccs.sr.unh.edu/craterweb/craterliveradio.html
    • http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/stereo_solarwind/sounds_examples2.html
THE UNIVERSE:
  • Star Walk - this application for your smartphone or tablet is an interactive astronomy guide that shows celestial objects on your device in the exact positions they are in the sky above you, providing detailed information about them.
  • Google Sky - Using the Google Maps Web tool provides an exciting way to browse and explore the universe. You can find the positions of the planets and constellations on the sky and even watch the birth of distant galaxies as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope.
  • The Worldwide Telescope - The Worldwide Telescope is a computer program created by Microsoft that displays the astronomical sky as maps, the 3D Universe, and earth science data.
  • Stellarium - Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.
  • NASA's Solar System - A fantastic resource from NASA with images and lots of information about our solar system.
  • Mission: Science - Mission:Science engages students in NASA Science and showcases educational resources created by NASA and its partners.
  • Zooniverse - Zooniverse is a citizen science web portal that allows YOU to participate in real scientific research about the universe.
  • NASA Kids Club - Kid-friendly astronomy activities and information from NASA.
  • The Space Place


Back to top

© 2014 Boston Children's Museum · 308 Congress St., Boston, MA