Did you know light can decrease visibility? Light pollution absolutely makes it more difficult to see stars. Scholars build a simple magnitude reader to determine the magnitude of stars. They use these data to estimate the impact of light pollution in their areas before learning how to limit light pollution.

 

Concepts

light, pollution, stars, magnitude

Show More Show Less

Additional Tags

science

Show More Show Less

Instructional Ideas

• View photos of the earth at night from the ISS to see how much light pollution exists

Classroom Considerations

• Requires inkjet transparencies made using the provided template
• Lesson begins with a nighttime star party to learn the proper observation method

Pros

• Offers multiple extension projects for citizen scientists
• Connects concepts locally as well as intergallactically

Cons

• None

Common Core

RST.6-8.3 RST.6-8.4 RST.9-10.3 RST.9-10.4 RST.11-12.3 RST.11-12.4