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How to Make a Constellation Viewer With a Plastic Drink Bottle & Black Paper

Many children have a fascination with space. They love looking at the night sky and imagining other planets, thinking about what they look like and wondering whether there is life on them. Parents and teachers can take advantage of this fascination by educating children about the constellations. One way to keep their interest is to help them make a constellation viewer, which involves a tube and cards punched with holes in constellation patterns. The viewer itself consists of a plastic soda bottle and a few other household items.

Things You'll Need

2-liter soda bottle
Scissors
Permanent marker
Black paint
Black paper
Chalk
Thumbtack

Instructions

- 1
  Rinse out a 2-liter soda bottle. Remove the label and scrape off the adhesive. The bottle should be as clean as possible. Discard the cap.
- 2
  Draw a straight line around the bottle about four inches up from the bottom, using the permanent marker. Cut along this line with a pair of sharp scissors and discard the bottom of the bottle. Use the scissors to make sure the plastic edges are as smooth as possible.
- 3
  Draw a rectangle that reaches about halfway around the bottle. It should be about ½ inch from the cut end and about ¼ inch wide. Use your scissors to cut out this rectangle, forming a slit.
- 4
  Paint the inside of the bottle black. You can use a paintbrush or simply dribble some paint into the bottle from the cut end and turn the bottle to coat the inside. Either way, this may require several coats. Wait at least an hour between coats for best results.
- 5
  Place the bottle, cut end down, on a piece of black paper. Trace around the bottle with a piece of chalk, then cut the circle out. Using a constellation picture from The Space Place (see Resources) or another constellation site, draw chalk dots that represent a constellation. Poke out these dots with a thumbtack.
- 6
  Slip the circle into the slit in the bottle. Hold the bottle up to a light and look through the neck. You should see your constellation glowing.

Astronomy