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STEM Kit: Star Gazing

Dec 8, 2022 | Educational Connections, Kids, STEAM Adventures

Do you love to look at the stars, but you aren’t sure what you’re looking at? This kit is for you! Filled with materials to help you enjoy the night sky, this kit will help you to learn the constellations and enjoy the heavens.

STEM Kit: Star Gazing

This kit contains:

  • Three books on stars, planets, and space: Star Finder!, Star Stories, and Sky Gazing.
  • A star and planet finder
  • A space projector with 32 images
  • Two red light flashlights

Young children–or those who don’t want to go outside!–will enjoy this inside activity: a space projector. It’s a good place to start learning some terminology, not to mention fill you with wonder. Here is a picture of a solar flare I projected on the ceiling. There are 32 images total.

Solar flare picture
All 32 images

After that, learn how to use the Star and Planet Locator. It’s a bit tricky, so I’d recommend watching this video:

After you feel comfortable with the Star and Planet locator, you can take the red flashlights and the Star and Planet Locator outside on a clear night and star looking. Because of light pollution, the farther into the country you can go the better.

If you find the Star and Planet Locator too difficult or intimidating, the Star Finder! book is a good alternative. It doesn’t go into as much detail, but it has an interesting way of showing you how to travel across the night sky to find constellations.

After you enjoy those, read and learn more! Star Stories is a fun collection of star tales that have been told around the world. People have been telling stories about the stars for millennia, and they can be very interesting! Star Gazing is a fun read to learn more about lots of different kinds of “astronomical objects and events.”

This kit is available in the Youth Services department in the STEM kit area (it’s in the northwest corner of the floor, between the J Fiction and the Story & Activity Room). It checks out for 3 weeks.

Questions? Email Laura at [email protected].

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