Summary
Why can't city kids see the Milky Way? The SciGirls investigate light pollution, measuring how much artificial light washes out the night sky and what a darker sky would take.
Viewer safety
Ages 7+
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Discussion
Full episode (28 min) from SciGirls, season 1.
- Why do stars look dimmer over a city than over a field?
- How did the girls measure something as slippery as 'sky brightness'?
- What could a town change to see more stars?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: light pollution, brightness, distance, night sky.
Try it: Go outside after dark and count the stars you can see in one fist-width of sky. Write one thing near you that adds light to the sky.