Dancing Lights

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.

Current Update

The Dancing Lights program is a NASA-approved product. If you have questions about the program, please contact us at epomail@lasp.colorado.edu.

Aurora Borealis
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)

Lessons and Materials

Related movie

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

Related Media