At-Home Activities

On a clear night, draw a diagram of some of the brightest objects you observe in the night sky. Compare your diagram to the winter star map that you used in the Try This activity on page 401. Note any similarities or differences.

Demonstrate the effect of Earth's tilt on the seasons by doing the following: Insert a wooden skewer through an orange so that it enters at the navel and exits at the bottom. Use a pen to draw a line representing the equator on the surface of the orange. Position the orange so it is leaning slightly to the right. In a darkened room, hold a flashlight about 15 cm from the left side of the orange. Mark the position where the light hits the orange. Then shine the flashlight about 15 cm from the right side of the orange and mark where the light strikes the orange. Explain to family members how this simulates the effect of Earth's tilt on the seasons.

You can take a photograph similar to the one on page 405. You will need a camera with a shutter that can be kept open. On a clear night, set up the camera on a tripod in a dark location. Aim the camera at Polaris, then keep the shutter open for an hour or more. (Vary the time exposures to view the different photos that result. You can also create interesting effects by shining a red flashlight for brief periods on objects or people in the foreground.)

On a clear night, compare your star map to what you observe in the night sky. Note, however, that what you see in the sky may not correspond with what is on the map; there are many more stars in the sky than are shown on the map.

On a clear night, practise using your astrolabe to measure angles between the horizon and objects viewed in the sky. If you experience difficulties, discuss these with your teacher.

Share some of the astronomy-related legends and beliefs described on page 410 with family members and acquaintances. Ask about any other astronomy-related legends or stories they may know.

Keep track of changes that occur in the night sky over a period of ten weeks: Observe the position of a particular constellation in relation to your house or building at 10:00 p.m. Repeat this once per week, at the same time of night, for a period of ten weeks. What do you notice about the position of the constellation?

Observe various street and highway lights in your area. How could you design better lights, or a better pattern for the lights, in order to reduce light pollution?

Create a solar system scale that could use toilet paper squares as the standard unit of measure of one million kilometres. How many sheets would you need to represent the distance from the sun to each planet? Tabulate results.

On a clear night, try to identify at least one planet in the sky. Over time, observe how its position changes relative to the stars.

The Chapter Review (pp.434-435) in your textbook lists all the Key Expectations you have covered in the chapter and identifies the specific lessons in which the knowledge and skills have been developed.

You can use the Key Expectations list to help you create a personal study guide in preparation for an end-of-chapter test:

1. Copy down the list of learning expectations from your textbook.
2. For each learning expectation, locate the appropriate lesson(s) in the unit where the expectation was covered. These are identified in parentheses at the end of each expectation (e.g., 13.2).
3. Flip to the appropriate lesson(s) for each expectation and make study notes of the key ideas or skills you learned.