Ursa Major

Instructions

• Print this page.
• Find a sheet of black paper or thin cardboard.
• Place this page on top of the black paper and poke holes through each of the stars. Use a compass or a thumb tack and it helps if you have a newspaper under the sheet of black paper.
• Take your black paper with the constellation you have just created and hold it up against a bright light and you will see how your constellation would look in the sky.

Other activities

Draw lines between the stars to create your own constellation. Then make a story about your constellation.

Notes

The orientation of your constellation in the night sky will depend on where you are on Earth and at what time of the night you are observing.

If you live north of the equator, you will be able to see Ursa Major towards the north for most of year. If you live in the south, close to the equator, it will be visible low in the north between March and June at about 9pm. From most of South America, South Africa and Australia and New Zealand it will not be visible.

Written by Grant Nicholson.