Children retell the Native American story of Negah and Why the North Star Stands Still and the complementary science story of Polaris.

Invite the children to retell the Native American story and the science story. Help the children begin the Native American story, and prompt them through the discussion. Help the children remember incidents that are left out or are out of order.

• What was Negah?
• What did he look like?
• What did Negah like to do?
• What did he find that was unusual one day?
• Why was it unusual?
• What happened next?
• Where did he end up?
• What happened to Negah?

You may wish to keep a list of events as the children build the story. Follow the Native American narrative with a discussion of the science story in the same way. Have the children connect the events in the Native American story to the events in the science story where they can.

You may want to have the children reenact the story as a play, taking turns as the narrator. They can create songs or dance the stories. Invite them to illustrate the stories using craft materials (see the "Drawing Conclusions" activity).

More Activities

Last updated
June 11, 2007

Who?
Ages 5 and up

How Long?
30-60 minutes

What's Needed?

• Poster Paper
• Markers

Connections to the National Science Standard(s)

Standards A, B&D (grades K–4): Understand and communicate that objects in the sky have patterns of movement. The position of objects in the sky can be described by locating them relative to another object or the background, for example, Polaris' location relative to the Big Dipper.