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Sky Journal Assignments
Fall 2009

In this journal you will speak in the voice of a village priestess living 10,000 years ago in what is currently northeastern North America. The goal of the journal is to describe your observations of the sky, working your way toward inventing a clock and then a calendar. Your motivation is to organize the daily routines of your tribe so they run more smoothly and you would also like to be able to predict when the major seasonal changes will be coming, when to plant or harvest crops, and to keep track of major events during your reign.

The sky observations should not be fictional! Base your reporting either on real observations that you make yourself, or simulated observations that you make in class with sky simulation software on the computer. All observations you describe must be real, but the context in which you interpret them will be imaginary -- seen with the eyes of a curious and eager priestess who has no prior knowledge of clocks, calendars, cardinal directions, etc. As you write, step into what you would have had to do to get these measurements 10,000 years ago (i.e. plant a stick in the ground, measure the changing shadow during the day...). You are encouraged to use your imaginations to recreate village scenes, environment, etc. but keep to reality for sky observations!

Please use a single spiral-bound notebook, not loose sheets of paper, for your Journal. In the spirit of being a village priestess living 10,000 years ago, don't use dates and times, since they haven't been invented yet! Each entry should be identified with a running number ( Entry #1, Entry #2, etc.). A nice addition would be to also use a running day number, starting from the day of your first entry, and counting forward. Be sure to give each entry a title. Leave room between entries for written comments.

Grading of Sky Journal entries will be guided by the following rubric:

  • 5 = A = Exceptional: Thoroughly and concisely addresses all questions posed in the assignment; very clear descriptions and drawings/sketches; accurate astronomical observations and clear understanding of phenomena; logic could be followed by any reasonable reader; discusses implications of observations for clocks, calendars, and other time-keeping from perspective of priestess.
  • 3.5-4.5 = B to B+ = Acceptable: Addresses all questions posed in the assignment; basic astronomical phenomena understood, described, and sketched.
  • 3 = C+ = Needs Work: Some questions posed in the assignment left unanswered; sketches and/or description not clear; average reader would have trouble following; astronomical phenomena reported inaccurately.
  • 2 or less = Serious omissions or misconceptions. Seek help immediately
    All in the voice of a village priestess or priest! Due dates will normally be the Tuesday following the project.

    ENTRY 1: What did you discover about the path of the sun through the sky today? Describe it with both words and sketches. How did using a gnomon help? How will you use your knowledge of the sunpath and its shadow path to make a clock for your villagers? How will you define and determine intervals of time?

    ENTRY 2: How did you discover the concept of cardinal directions? Using your new vocabulary including the cardinal directions, meridian, zenith, azimuth, and altitude, give a clear but concise description of the sun's path across the sky. Include a sketch. Relate the sun's motion to a village clock of your own devising that measures equal intervals of time. How would you be able to measure equal time intervals? How do they look on a shadow path? Although in class you had computer simulation to help you, in your writing you need to imagine how you would have been able to get this information with stone-age technology.

    ENTRY 3: Write, in the voice of the village priestess, what you have discovered about how the path of the sun changes with the seasons. How many days does it take to complete a full seasonal cycle? Relate the sunpaths to the duration of daylight during the seasons. Include sketches and be precise! Describe how you would use seasonal sunpaths to design a calendar for your tribe. What will you use to mark the beginning of a new calendar cycle?

    ENTRY 4: Describe, in the voice of the village priestess, how the full array of stars moves through the sky during the course of a single night. Describe the sky as whole, not individual stars, except for Polaris. How can you use this to mark time at night? (maybe get inspiration from the cover pictures to this handout). What constellation would be prominent in your night clock? Make sure your words are clear enough so that one of your villagers could easily envision the motion of the full sky. Include sketches.

    ENTRY 5: Write, in the voice of the village priestess, the key points you have discovered about the changing moon. What happens to its shape? Does it always rise at the same time? How does it move across the sky? In what ways is it like the sun? How is it different? Keep it brief, and include sketches. Be as precise as you can without resorting to modern timekeeping definitions. How will you incorporate the cycles of the moon into the village timekeeping system?

    Entry 6: Sky Journal Assignment: Describe what you have discovered about the seasonal changes in the constellations. Use the rising of the constellation of Pisces to illustrate your understanding, starting from the Autumn Equinox. Expand this to all stars. Add to this your discovery of the Celestial Equator and and the Ecliptic. Connect the seasonal changes of the constellations to the seasonal changes of the sun.