Designing the Zodiac
Students learn about constellations across many different cultures and create their own constellation and write their own origin story.
In this project, students explore how different cultures have looked to the night sky for inspiration. Through stories from Greek, Native American, and Inca traditions, they learn how the same constellations have been interpreted in unique and meaningful ways across cultures, often reflecting beliefs, environments, and changes in the sky.
Inspired by these tales, students create their own original constellations and write accompanying origin myths. They then bring their night skies to life using oil pastels and liquid watercolors, carefully composing their star-filled scenes with both creativity and intention.
This project ties into the 1st grade literacy curriculum by connecting to themes about the sky and storytelling, offering a rich blend of cultural exploration, imagination, and artistic expression.
Good for:
All Ages
Student Examples
“Because at the end The Crown says “what a world” -but in a good way. When he comes back to Earth everyone claps for him. He destroys something that wants to hurt the world but he [The Crown] wants to protect it. Then he says— one person says “The Crown is our hero!”He saves the world from a basketball from the basketball planet and pushes it and the world 246 miles away. Then everyone cheers!”
Giselle, 7 “What a World”
“I know that The Haunted is a really good arm wrestler and no one could beat him. He even fought Odin and he lost, then he battled Thor and got Thor’s hammer. Then he fought the giant and the giant lost, so The Haunted hit him with the hammer and that’s how they got into space.”
Julian, 8 “The Haunted”
”It is a robot fox/creature. Foxes inspired me to make it. So he is supposed to have a tail with a diamond on the end to defend itself from Greek hunters. I liked the 7 Sisters story and it made me wonder how did the girl turn into a bear. His story is that he started as a fox that was half creature and then someone gave it a robot/iron mask to defend itself from the hunters. He went up to the stars because he defended himself from the villagers and he stood up.”