What to do with this activity?

Look up at the stars together, especially in clear weather and away from city lights. On a good night, we can see thousands of stars and planets.  A good way to get to know the night sky is to spot groups of stars that form recognisable patterns. Over the centuries, these patterns have been given names - like Big Bear, Orion the Hunter, and Scorpion -  and are known as constellations. There are 88 recognised constellations that help us (and professional astronomers) to find stars in relation to other stars. 

Probably the easiest group of stars to spot in an Irish sky is the one in the picture above. It has different names - usually "the plough" or "the big dipper".  It looks like a big saucepan with a handle, and is made up of seven stars. "The plough" is actually only part of a constellation called "ursa major", which means big bear. If your child wants to find out more about constellations, click on this Ducksters link or learn to recognise more constellations on the DK Find Out website. If you have an android smart phone you might want to download Sky Map by Google. It's free and so is Skyview Lite for Apple or Android devices.