Dancing Lights provides a set of five activities that allows students in Grades 3 through 5 to explore the beauty, science and mythology of the aurora creatively through art and writing. (Courtesy Joshua Strang/USAF)
Current Update
The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) has a Dancing Lights contest opportunity for Colorado Students in grades 3-5. Entries must be turned in by Friday, April 13, 2013. Winning entries will attend an award ceremony at LASP on May 11, 2013. More information regarding contest requirements and our address may be found on the document, “Colorado Contest Information,” below.
The Dancing Lights program is a NASA Approved Product. If you have questions about the program, please contact us at epomail@lasp.colorado.edu.
Introduction
Dancing Lights is a science-in-literacy program about the aurora. Students in grades 3-5 write and illustrate their perceptions, ideas, and facts pertaining to auroral science. Dancing Lights converted to a national program in 2009. Previously, the program name was “Colorado Lights.” We are pleased to present Dancing Lights to you and your students and sincerely hope you enjoy participating.
Lessons and Materials
- Dancing Lights Lesson Packet (2.3 MB PDF)
- Teacher Background Material (1.1 MB PDF)
- Common Core Standards for English Language Arts (156 KB PDF)
- Colorado State Standards (397 KB PDF)
- Colorado Contest Information (164 KB PDF)
- The Aurora: What does it look like? (an introduction for elementary school-aged children; 4.9 MB PDF)
- Auroras! Mysterious Lights in the Sky (Student tutorial from UC Berkeley)
- Aurora photo gallery
- The Northern Lights (YouTube)
Recommended Reading
(All are available on Amazon.com)
- Aurora: A Tale of the Northern Lights by Mindy Dwyer
- Auroras: Light Shows in the Night Sky by Donna Walsh Shepherd
- The Fiddler of the Northern Lights by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock
- The Night Rainbow by Barbara Juster Esbensen
- Northern Lights by Dorothy Souza
- Not Every Day an Aurora Borealis for Your Birthday: A Love Poem by Carl Sandburg
- Science Matters: Northern Lights by David Whitefield
- Sky Sisters by Jan Bourdeau Waboose
- Wonders of the World – The Northern Lights by Deborah Underwood
- Under the Night Sky by Amy Lundebrek
Teacher Resources
- Auroras: Paintings in the Sky (Exploratorium)
- The Space Weather Center (Space Science Institute)
- Sun-Earth Connection FAQs (NASA)
- Space Weather (STEREO Mission)
- The Sun-Earth Connection (GEMS, Berkeley, Living with a Star)
- Total Aurora Overview (University of Alaska)
- Everyday Mysteries (Library of Congress)
- MetEd Space Weather Welcome, SEC (Free Registration Required)
Related Media
- Animated video of Coronal Mass Ejection (Courtesy NASA)
- Aurora Australis (Courtesy NASA)
- Space Weather and Earth’s Aurora (Courtesy NASA)
- ScienceCasts: Auroras Underfoot (ScienceAtNASA YouTube)
