Day into Night

DIN Unit 1: Making Observations

Introduction :: Activity 1 :: Activity 2 :: Activity 3 :: Activity 4 :: Activity 5

Activity 2

Objective

Students will prepare materials to be used to record the positions of objects viewed at 15 degree intervals on the meridian.

Materials

• Writing utensil
• Journal
• Drawing compass
• Protractor
• Ruler

Vocabulary

• Circumference
• Bisect
• Meridian
• Zenith

Procedure

1. Instruct your students to draw a large 180 degree arc on a piece of cardboard using a drawing compass, protractor, and ruler.
2. Have your students mark one point of the arc 0 degrees and the opposite 180 degrees.
3. Divide and label the arc every 15 degrees using the protractor and ruler. This arc will be used as a recording device in the next activity.

Discussion

Students should answer the following questions in their journals and be prepared to discuss them as a class.

1. How does this recording device resemble a longitude/latitude grid?
2. How do you think that such a grid could be projected onto and used to measure positions of objects in the night sky?
3. How do you think it might be used to locate objects in the sky? Fixed objects on the horizon can be used as reference points to determine the location of other objects.

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