Field Museum

Write down your thoughts about the story you just heard. If you would like to listen to the story again, see the Additional Resources below. 

Story Reflection

Reflect on your own experience with stars and sky using the graphic organizer provided. 

Engage: Look to the Stars 

Learn new terms and words that you will see in this lesson. Practice using these terms and words!

Indigenous Astronomy: Vocabulary

 Listen to a Live Sky Show introducing the night sky, stars, constellations, and storytelling.

Live Sky Show

Look at the slides of the night sky. Choose one image that stands out to you. Use the See, Think, Wonder strategy in the next section to explore the images. 

See, Think, Wonder: Night Sky Images

Ancestor Acknowledgement

Use the sky map to circle your own constellation using the annotation tools. Tell or write the story of the constellation you created. 

Evaluate: Create Your Own Constellation (Digitally)!

Watch the video of Karen Ann Hoffman talking about Sky Woman. 
Look at the constellations map.
Design your own pattern, tell it's story.
What pattern will you make? 
What story does it tell?

Evaluate: Create Your Own Constellation (On Paper)!

Examine the images of the night sky in the previous activity. What is going on? What clues can you find that tell you more about the location, details, and purpose of the image? Write what you can see, what you think about the image, and what you wonder about it. What questions do you have about it? What else do you want to know about it?

See, Think, Wonder: Night Sky Worksheet

What is a constellation? 

A constellation is a group or cluster of stars that form a shape or design. There are all kinds of constellations!

Investigate Great Bear Mat, and look for a pattern of stars. Does this pattern or constellation look familiar?

Elaborate: Constellations

The Great Bear Met (he/him) is a living Ancestor, beaded by Karen Ann Hoffman and on display at the Field Museum ini the exhibition Native Truths: Our Voices, Our Stories

Explore: The Great Bear Hunt

This resource kit centers Indigenous knowledges and star stories. With this toolkit, students will learn of the importance of Sky and Stars to the past, present, and future of Native peoples. Through interactive exploration, multimedia, and Indigenous star stories, students will connect to their own experiences, identities, personal wellness, and to the night sky.

Learn more about the Field Museum's Native Truths: Our Voices, Our Stories exhibit by following this link: https://www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibitions/native-truths-our-voices-our-stories

 The bear in the Great Bear Hunt story is hunted and does end up dying. Approach this topic in a way that supports your classroom and students. 

Identify and manage one’s emotions and behavior

Recognize personal qualities and external supports

Recognize the feelings and perspectives of others

Recognize individual and group similarities and differences

Use communication and social skills to interact effectively with others

Native Truths: Indigenous Astronomy

Earth and Space Science

Science

Reading: Informational Texts

English Language Arts

Does this pattern or constellation look familiar?

Take a look at this picture of the night sky. Can you find a group of stars that looks like it could be the same as Great Bear Mat? 

Try to find similar shapes. Can you trace your shape with your finger?

I spot the Big Dipper Constellation! This is the same constellation that Karen Ann Hoffman describes in the story of the Great Bear Hunt. 

The four hunters make up the straight part of the dipper, and the bear is part of the cup. 

Resource Kits

Object Library

Museums

Native Truths: Indigenous Astronomy

Elaborate: Constellations

Great Bear Mat