NARRATOR: Have you ever looked up at the sky and wondered what's going on up there? Up there. Up through the clouds. Have you ever wondered what the Moon is made of? Why the stars twinkle? What it feels like to be an astronaut living in space? Emma and Joshua have lots of questions about the stars, and this is their stargazing story.
WOMAN: Emma, what can you see in the sky?
EMMA: Blue and grey stuff. I think it's cloud.
WOMAN 2: Josh, do you know, is there usually a star that's out in the day time?
JOSHUA: The thing that looks like a star is the Sun.
NARRATOR: Well done, Joshua. He's nearly there. In fact, the Sun doesn't only look like a star, it is a star.
JOSHUA: The Sun is a burning, hot ball that has fire flames on.
We should never look at the Sun with your eyes because you might hurt your eyes.
WOMAN 2: Can you see any stars in the sky?
JOSHUA: No.
EMMA: The stars only come out when the Sun is gone.
WOMAN: Well done.
EMMA: It's because the Sun stops their light.
NARRATOR: There are thousands of stars twinkling in the sky during the day, but we can't see them because they're hidden by the bright light of our closest star, the Sun.
WOMAN 2: What can we not see in the sky at the moment?
JOSHUA: The stars and the Moon, because i- it's cloudy.
WOMAN: Can you see anything up there?
EMMA & JOSHUA: No.
WOMAN: What a shame. It's raining and we can't see any stars tonight, can we?
Emma, how far away do you think the stars are?
EMMA: A billion miles. Infinity of miles.
NARRATOR: Not quite infinity. After the Sun, our closest star is still twenty-five million million miles away.
WOMAN: Emma, if it's a nice night tomorrow, would you like to go on a special trip to see the stars?
EMMA: Yeah.
JOSHUA: Yeah!
WOMAN: Do you know where it is?
EMMA: The Dark Sky Park.
WOMAN: The Dark Sky Park. Would that be good?
EMMA: Yeah.
NARRATOR: The Dark Sky Park, in Galloway Forest, is a very special place and perfect for stargazing because there are no lights, except for the twinkles coming from the stars.
WOMAN 2: Joshua and Emma, lets get ready now to go to the Sky Park.
JOSHUA: [gasps] Are we going to it now?
WOMAN 2: So, yeah. So let's get out coats.
JOSHUA: [squeals]
WOMAN 2: Let's get our coats.
EMMA: I can't believe it!
Yeee!
NARRATOR: When we look up at the sky from within a town or a city, the light from all the cars, buildings and street lamps light up the sky, much like the Sun does during the day, making it tricky for us to see all the stars shining. But the Dark Sky Park is really dark.
JOSHUA: Wow!
EMMA: Whoo!
Yay! We're here! Yee!
JOSHUA: Yee-haa!
KEITH: Hi, guys. Hi, kids.
WOMAN: Hi, there.
I'm Keith. Do you know what I am? I'm a Dark Sky ranger. I look at the stars.
Did you see lots of stars up there just now?
JOSHUA: No.
KEITH: No? Why not?
EMMA: I think it's 'cause the caravan lights are on.
KEITH: That's right. It takes a few minutes, OK, for your eyes to adjust so that you can see the dark skies. We'll have to switch off the lights.
Shall we do a countdown and switch off the lights, then, and make it go all dark? Are you ready? Right.
WOMAN 2: Okay, I'll go- I'll go and turn the lights off, Keith.
KEITH: You go and switch off the lights. Fantastic.
JOSHUA: Start on ten.
KEITH: Are you ready? Shall we hold up our fingers?
Ten.
ALL: Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.
KEITH: Out. Whooo.
JOSHUA: Whooa! I can see tons!
EMMA: I can see loads of stars!
NARRATOR: Because it's so dark, we're using a very special camera to see what Joshua and Emma are up to in the Sky Park.
You might have seen this camera used to film animals at night.
KEITH: Right, kids, now that we've been out here for a while, what's the brightest star you can see?
EMMA: That one.
KEITH: That one? Now, I've got something very special, okay? It's a special pointer. And it points out the stars. I'll switch it on.
Is that the one you're looking at?
EMMA: Yeah, yeah.
KEITH: That's not a star.
EMMA: Oh.
KEITH: It's a planet!
EMMA: I knew that all along!
KEITH: Did ya?! Excellent. Now, what- what planet do you think it is?
EMMA: Venus.
KEITH: Not Venus.
EMMA: Jupiter!
KEITH: Spot on!
EMMA: [giggles]
KEITH: Well done.
EMMA: It looks so, so pretty. And I can't help gazing up.
NARRATOR: Some stars in our galaxy seem brighter than others because they are either closer to the Earth or they're very big. If you see something in the sky that's not twinkling it's probably a planet.
KEITH: Does anyone know what the patterns in the sky are called? They're called con…?
EMMA: The constellations.
KEITH: Constellations! That's right.
Have you heard about the North Star?
JOSHUA: Yeah.
KEITH: Yeah? Well, it's also called the Pole Star. It stands right up there and it doesn't move very much. But it's quite hard to find the North Star because it's not very bright.
But do you know how we find it?
JOSHUA: No.
KEITH: We use pointer constellations.
Okay, so there- there's the Plough. There's the Handle of the- of the Saucepan. And you see these two stars there? That's the pointer star. And you follow that right up… There's your North Star. [ WOMAN 2: Oh wow.] There's your Pole Star.
Well, have you enjoyed coming out to see us tonight?
JOSHUA: Yes.
KEITH: Have you enjoyed seeing all the stars?
JOSHUA: Yeah.
WOMAN: Thank you, Keith.
WOMAN 2: Thanks, Keith.
KEITH: My pleasure. Thank you for coming.
EMMA: Thank you.
WOMAN: It's been amazing, hasn't it?
EMMA: It was very amazing!
WOMAN: Shall we go back to the camper van and get some hot chocolate?
EMMA: Yeah!
JOSHUA: [squeals]
KEITH: Happy star hunting.
JOSHUA: Very cool.
KEITH: Bye.
NARRATOR: Now it's time for Joshua and Emma to draw pictures of what they saw in the sky.
WOMAN: Did you enjoy this evening?
JOSHUA: Yeah.
WOMAN: What are you making here?
EMMA: That's the Saucepan and that's the North Star.
WOMAN 2: And what other planets did you see? What have you got in your picture?
JOSHUA: That's Jupiter and that's the Sun.
WOMAN: Emma and Josh, shall we just have a quick look out the window and see if we can see any more stars? Shall we?
WOMAN 2: Let's have a look.
Video summary
In this series teaching the basics of astronomy, two young stargazers visit a Dark Sky park, one of the darkest places in the country.
Emma and Joshua learn about light pollution, constellations and the planets.
They find out how to use the North Star to find constellations and how to tell the difference between a star and a planet.
This clip is from the series Little Stargazing.
Teacher Notes
This clip could be used to develop an awareness of light and dark, light pollution and the Solar System.
Using a rotating globe and a large flash torch as the sun, students could demonstrate and explain ‘night and day’ to one another.
Students could look at different pieces of black paper and fabric to compare the shades of darkness.
Shine torches on them to show the effect of ‘city lights’.
Students could be encouraged to make their own version of the Plough (‘saucepan’) group of stars using glitter pens or coloured chalk on black paper.
This clip will be relevant for teaching Physics or Science.
This topic appears in KS1/KS2 in England and Northern Ireland, Key Stage 2 in Wales and Early/1st/2nd level in Scotland.
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