1 2 URSA MAJOR (BIG BEAR) Ursa Major, the Great Bear, is visible in the northern hemisphere all year long. It is one of the best­known constellations and is famous for containing a series of stars known as the Big Dipper. This is called an ASTERISM (a small picture/object located within a constellation). The shape of the bear can clearly be seen under dark skies, with the handle of the dipper making up the bear's tail. During the Civil War, the Big Dipper was used by the Underground Railroad. Slaves escaping from the South were told to follow the "drinking gourd" to a better life. This is because the Big Dipper is circumpolar, meaning it can be see in the North all night long. 3 North Star (Polaris) 4 POLARIS (THE NORTH STAR) Ursa Minor, the Little Bear, is visible in the northern hemisphere all year long. This constellation is famous for a group of stars known as the Little Dipper and for Polaris, the North Star, which is located at the tip of the dipper's handle. Polaris is called the North Star because it is the closest star to the North Celestial Pole. This means that as the Earth rotates, Polaris appears to remain stationary in the sky while all of the other stars rotate around it. Polaris can be located by finding the two stars in the edge of the cup in the Big Dipper and following an imaginary line outwards, away from the cup. The next bright star you encounter will be Polaris. Because the Earth wobbles slightly as it rotates on its axis, Polaris will not always be the North Star. In about 14,000 years the north celestial pole will point away from Polaris and toward Vega. 5 6 LEO (THE LION) Leo, the Lion, can be found in the northern hemisphere in the spring and southern hemisphere in autumn. It was named after the Nemean lion, which was killed by Hercules. According to legend, the lion had a hide that could not be pierced by iron, bronze, or stone. Hercules strangled the great beast after unsuccessfully trying to reason with it. The ancient Egyptians worshiped Leo as the place where the Sun rose after creation. It appearance in the night sky coincided with the summer solstice and the flooding of the Nile river. The bright star, Regulus, was seen in ancient times as the guardian of the heavens. Its name means "heart of the lion", due to its position in the constellation. With a magnitude of 1.35, Regulus is the 25th brightest star in the sky. 7 8 CASSIOPEIA (THE QUEEN) Cassiopeia, the vain Queen, can be seen in the northern hemisphere all year long. Cassiopeia was the wife of Cepheus and mother of Andromeda. She is represented chained to her throne in the heavens as punishment for her boast of being more beautiful than all the Nereids. As the Earth rotates, she can sometimes be seen suffering as she hangs upside down on her head, flat on her back, or flat on her face! 9 10 ORION (THE HUNTER) Orion, the Hunter, is visible from October through March in both hemispheres. This constellation was named after the hero of Greek mythology who was killed by Scorpius, the scorpion. The gods felt sorry for Orion, so they put him and his dogs in the sky as constellations, along with all of the animals he hunted. Scorpius was placed on the opposite side of the sky so that Orion would never be hurt by it again. Orion is never seen in the sky at the same time as Scorpius. Orion is without a doubt one of the brightest and most beautiful constellation in the winter sky. The three stars making up Orion's belt are among the most easily recognizable formations in the night sky. The sword of Orion is the home of the famous Orion Nebula. This nebula is one of the brightest in the sky and can easily be seen with the naked eye. There is another very different story of of Orion. It goes something like this...Orion was in love with Artemis, but Apollo, the brother of Artemis was opposed to this. Artemis was very proud of her skill as an archer. So one day Apollo challenged Artemis to put an arrow through a small dark object that could be seen far off in the distance bobbing above the waves of the sea. Artemis easily pierced the object with a single shot. Sadly, the small object was actually her love, Orion. Filled with grief, she placed him among the stars. 11 12 CANIS MAJOR (THE BIG DOG) Canis Major, the Great Dog, is visible in the northern hemisphere from December through March. It can be seen in the southern hemisphere between November and April. This constellation represents the larger of Orion's two hunting dogs who accompany him as he hunts Lepus, the rabbit. This constellation is the home of Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. Also known as the Dog Star, this magnitude ­1.46 star dominates the winter skies. Sirius can be easily located by drawing a straight line through the three belt stars in the constellation Orion. The name Sirius means "scorching", which more than likely refers to the star's unmatched brilliance in the night sky. 13 14 TAURUS (THE BULL) Taurus, the Bull, can be seen during the winter and the early spring in the northern hemisphere. It is believed to represent the story of Europa and the bull. The story tells of Europa, daughter of Agenor who was King of Phoenica. One day Europa saw a majestic white bull grazing near her father's herd. The bull was actually Zeus in disguise. After allowing Europa to climb on its back, the bull whisked her off to Crete where he made her his "girlfriend." The V­shape of the horns in Taurus is very easy to find. Taurus is the home of two Messier objects. Perhaps the most famous of these is the Crab Nebula, the remnants of a massive supernova explosion. The second of the objects is the Pleiades. Pleiades is also an ASTERISM ­ a smaller picture/object found in a larger constellation. Also known as the Seven Sisters, it is a tight, open star cluster containing six bright stars. The Pleiades was named after the seven daughters of Atlas, the titan who holds up the sky. The seventh star, Celaeno, is too dim to bee seen by the naked eye. Celaeno is known as the lost Pleiad because in mythology, she was struck by lightning. The remaining six sisters are Asterope, Celaeno, Electra, Maia, Merope, and Taygete. 15 AURIGA (THE CHARIOTEER) Auriga can be seen most of the year in northern hempisphere, due to its circumpolar nature. This constellation represents the charioteer Erechtheus, who is seen carrying his children in his arm. This constellation is believed to have originated with the Babylonians. In some references, the charioteer carries a goat along with the two children. His other hand holds the reins to the chariot. Auriga contains three Messier objects, all of which are open star clusters. The bright star Capella is the 6th brightest star in the sky. With a magnitude of 0.08, it can easily be identified in the night sky. 16 Everyday Math Lesson 9.6 Name an Equivalent fraction for... 1 2 1 3 1 4 17 Everyday Math Lesson 9.6 AREA The insides of any figure; the surface included within any given lines 18 SMART EVERYDAY MATH PATTERN­BLOCK TEMPLATE 0 Inches 13 12 circle 1 11 hexagon 10 2 hexagon 9 circle triangle triangle 8 3 7 6 circle 4 trapezoid 5 rhombus 5 4 3 rhombus square 6 2 1 rectangle 7 Centimeters parallelogram 0 Created by Brian Salco, 2008 19 20 21 22 MY NAME IS MARIA ISABEL VOCABULARY: celebrated relatives differently photographs disappointed 23 24 LESTER'S DOG VOCABULARY: frozen shadows squeeze stubborn tears 25 Unit 13 Fundations /o/ vowel teams oa, oe, ow 26 Unit 13 Fundations O e 27 Unit 13 Fundations O w 28 Unit 13 Fundations O a 29 Unit 13 Fundations boat 30 Unit 13 Fundations toe 31 Unit 13 Fundations snow 32 Unit 13 Fundations 'ow' usually comes at the end of the word... snow grow slow yellow but SOMETIMES 'ow' can come at the end of a word... grown 33 Unit 13 Fundations Let's look at the following spellings... flote o­e floet oe float oa flowt ow Which one do you think is correct? 34 Unit 13 Fundations Words Of the Week 35 Words Unit 13 Fundations Words Of the WORD OF THE WEEK Of the eek eek W WEEK 1 W foam d 36 Unit 13 Fundations I C R K T WORDS 37 I C R I C R KUnit 13 Fundations K T TRICK WORDS T WORDS WEEK 1 WORDS Monday Tuesday cousin 38.