Pre Visit Activities: Observatory

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Pre-Visit Activities BE A SPACECRAFT AND EXPLORE THE SOLAR SYSTEM Have students look up the properties of each of the eight planets plus Pluto, including their size, distance from the Sun, and a few facts about them. Write down the information for each planet on index cards in preparation for your visit to Griffith Observatory. Identify space missions that have visited each planet. Did the spacecraft fly by, orbit or land? When? What mission has gone the farthest? What was the first mission to land on another planet? Write down the information for each spacecraft on index cards in preparation for your visit to Griffith Observatory, and use the cards in the Solar System Lawn Model activity by re-enacting the historical sequence of solar system exploration. WANTED: ELEMENTS FROM THE PERIODIC TABLE After learning about the periodic table, each student chooses an element and creates a WANTED poster that describes the properties of that element but not the element’s name. Each student presents the poster to the class, and students try to identify the element from the information provided on the WANTED poster. MOVEMENT OF THE SUN To show students that the position of the Sun changes from season to season, choose a classroom window or a place on the playground where students can observe and mark where the Sun is in the sky over the course of one day. Then, do the same thing at the same time each day throughout the year. Mark the place every two weeks for several months or the whole school year. MONUMENTAL ASTRONOMERS Introduce students to some of the greatest astronomers of all time. Divide the students into groups and have them choose one of the six astronomers depicted on the Astronomers Monument at Griffith Observatory and portray the famous astronomer for the other students. Have the class guess which astronomer each group is playing. JUST ADD WATER

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