892 Handbook of Nature-Study 



1 2 . Does the Big Dipper ever rise and set ? 



13. The Big Dipper is also called the Great Bear. Can you find the 

 stars which make the bear's head and front legs ? 



After the pupils surely know the Big Dipper and Pole-star draw the com- 

 plete diagram upon the board to show the Little Dipper and where it may be 

 found, and call attention to the fact that the end of the Little Dipper's 

 handle is the Pole-star itself and that its bowl is not flaring, like that of the 

 Big Dipper and that the two pour into each other. Let the pupils find the 

 Little Dipper in the sky for themselves and ask the following questions : 



Observations — 14. Is the Little Dipper nearer or farther from the Pole- 

 star than the Big Dipper ? 



15. How many stars in the handle of the Little Dipper ? 



16. How many stars make the bowl of the Little Dipper? Which of 

 these stars are the brightest? Is the bowl of the Little Dipper above or 

 below the Pole-star? 



1 7 . Does the Little Dipper extend in the same direction in relation to 

 the Pole-star all night ? 



18. Make observations on the relation to each other of the two dippers 

 at eight o'clock in the evening of January, February, March and April. 



After the above lessons are well learned, give the following questions, and 

 try to have the pupils answer by thinking : 



Questions about Polaris {the North Star) for the pupils to think about and 

 answer: 



19. How many names has the Pole-star? Can the Pole-star be seen 

 from the southern hemisphere ? If not, why not ? 



20. If you should start from southern Florida and travel straight north, 

 how would the Pole-star seem to change position each succeeding night ? 



21. If you could stand at the North Pole, where would the Pole-star 

 seem to be ? 



22. If you were at the North Pole, would any of the stars rise and set? 

 In what direction would the stars seem to move and why ? 



23. How does the North Star help the sailors to navigate the seas and 

 why? 



24. How do astronomers reckon distances between us and the stars? 

 What is a light-year? 



Topics for English lesson — (a) What a star is. (b) What a constellation 

 is. (c) How the stars and constellations received their names in ancient 

 times. In ancient times the Big and Little Dippers were named the Big 

 and Little Bears, and that is their Latin name to this day. Write a story 

 about what the ancient Greeks told about these Bears and how they came 

 to be in the sky. 



Supplementary reading — Stories of Starland, Proctor, pp. 11 7-1 21; 

 Storj'land of the Stars, Pratt, p. 75 ; Child's Study of the Classics, p. 33. 



