My presentation in the Discover the Cosmos Conference (Volos, Greece - 2013) about an inquiry based scenario about light pollution.

1. How many stars can I see at
night?
José Gonçalves
www.eufisica.com
astropt.org

2. Introductory section and preparatory phase
● Short Description: Students in this scenario will study
the effects of light pollution on the observation of the
stars at night and they will simulate with Stellarium.
● Keywords: Astronomy, Hands-On, Stellarium,
observation, pollution, light.
● Target audience: Students at 7th
grade
● Age range: 11+ years
● Context: After the constellations subject, this scenario
will be implemented at home, and at school.
● Time required: 90 min (or 2 periods)

3. ● Technical Requirements:
● Teacher:
● Computer with Stellarium and Excel
● Data projector and, if possible, an interactive board.
● Students:
● Computers with internet connection and Stellarium.
● Author’s background:
● Connection with the curriculum: Astronomy at 7th
grade, in Physics lessons.
● Learning Objectives: Verify that the artificial light
affects the observation of the stars at night
● Guidance for preparation:
Introductory section and preparatory phase

4. To provoke curiosity,
teachers can do it in two
ways:
1. Presented the following
timelapse video
http://vimeo.
com/channels/eufisicatv/
24551969
2) The students must to
complete the tasks
presented in the
Worksheet 1 at home, in
a night before this class
lesson.
Pre-Experiment / Observation– Teaching Phase 1:
Questions Eliciting Activities – PROVOKE CURIOSITY
Timelapse author: Randy Halverson
One of the tasks from Worksheet 1

5. Pre-Experiment / Observation– Teaching Phase 1:
Questions Eliciting Activities – DEFINE QUESTIONS
FROM CURRENT KNOWLEDGE
●Questions from data:
●Do we see the same number of
stars if we are in the same
region?
●Can some students observe
more stars than others?
●Can any factors (human,
nature) influence our
observation?
●Is any factor more important
than another?

6. Pre-Experiment / Observation– Teaching Phase 2:
Active Investigation – PROPOSE PRELIMINARY
EXPLANATION OR HYPOTHESES
● We can’t see many stars at night sky because of:
● City lights (even if we are in an urban region);
● The pollution from industry;
● The clouds;
● The moonlight;
● Volcano’s activity;
● The atmosphere, air;
● The satellites (too many).
International Dark-Sky Assocation. When the eastern power grid
failed, from Ontario to New York City, in August 2003, it revealed
something many city dwellers had never seen: from horizon to
horizon, a sky full of stars. Then the power came back on.

7. Pre-Experiment / Observation– Teaching Phase 2:
Active Investigation – PLAN AND CONDUCT SIMPLE
INVESTIGATION
●Worksheet 1 (at home
before this class lesson)
●Using stellarium
“Atmosphere” feature to
explain different
observations by
changing the artificial
light.
●Turn the lights off and
on and ask the students
explanations. Choose → Sky and window options [F4]
In the “Atmosphere” area, select a value for artificial light.

8. Experiment / Observation– Teaching Phase 3:
Creation – GATHER EVIDENCE FROM OBSERVATION
●After the first worksheet
is completed at home, the
teacher will collect the data
to a spreadsheet and
display the graphs.
Observation of the Orion’s Constellation.
Source: Wikipedia

9. Experiment / Observation– Teaching Phase 3:
Creation – GATHER EVIDENCE FROM OBSERVATION
Counting the stars using STELLARIUM and interactive
board.

10. Experiment / Observation– Teaching Phase 3:
Creation – GATHER EVIDENCE FROM OBSERVATION
●Observation gathered from STELLARIUM.

11. Experiment / Observation– Teaching Phase 4:
Discussion – EXPLANATION BASED ON EVIDENCE
By using Stellarium the students
concluded:
● Atmosphere has a little
influence our night sky
observation;
● Artificial light are more influent
in our night sky observation;
● With the increasing of artificial
light the number of
astronomical objects that we
can see is reduced to a
minimum.

12. Post-Experiment / Observation– Teaching Phase 5:
Reflection – COMMUNICATE EXPLANATION
Postercreatedbythestudents
withteacher’shelp

13. ● Worksheet 2
Causes of light pollution, by their
nature (natural and
anthropogenic).
Two measures to reduce light
pollution.
Best places to make the
observation of the Universe.
● Homework
Take a look to the
constellation of Orion and
register it at: http://www.
globeatnight.org/webapp/ (visit
website to participation dates).
Post-Experiment / Observation– Teaching Phase 5:
Reflection – FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES AND
MATERIALS

14. Local places to make the observation at night.
Post-Experiment / Observation– Teaching Phase 5:
Reflection – FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES AND
MATERIALS
CreatedwithGoogleFusionTables

15. Local places to make the observation at night.
Post-Experiment / Observation– Teaching Phase 5:
Reflection – FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES AND
MATERIALS
CreatedwithGoogleFusionTables

16. ● Reading:
● http://www.darksky.org/
● http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.
ssf/2008/11/bigcity_light_pollution_may_go.html
● http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/11/light-
pollution/klinkenborg-text
● http://www.noao.edu/education/
● More activities:
http://portal.discoverthecosmos.eu/en/node/191453
● http://portal.discoverthecosmos.eu/en/node/191458
● http://www.need-less.org.uk/ (online Sky Night simulator)
Post-Experiment / Observation– Teaching Phase 5:
Reflection – FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES AND
MATERIALS

17. ● My personal
evaluation of
this scenario
Evaluation:
Reflection

18. Contact Information
● José Gonçalves
● Physics teacher at the public schools in
Portugal
●
● Email:
● josegoncalves@eufisica.com