Educational Overview

• To provide young children in China and the U.S. with an age-appropriate introduction to astronomy
• To promote positive attitudes toward science among children in each country
• To foster cross-cultural appreciation between children in both countries

The Sun, stars, and Moon are the primary topics addressed in the show and the supporting outreach materials. The following are specific messages and learning objectives related to each topic:

The Sun 

• The Sun is very hot and very bright. The Sun gives us light and warms our world.
• The Sun is always shining, and it is always daytime somewhere in the world. When it’s daytime here in the U.S., it’s nighttime in China!
• The Sun is a star. It’s the one star we can see in the daytime. It just looks different since it’s much closer to us than the stars we see at night.       

The Stars 

• You can see stars at night after the Sun sets. There are so many stars in the sky. Some stars are very bright, and some are so dim that you can barely see them. 
• Many stars have names like the “North Star.”       
• People all over the world like to connect stars to imagine shapes and pictures in the sky. One group of stars is called the “Big Dipper” which is made up of seven stars and looks like a big soup spoon in the sky. 
• While children in China and children in the U.S. live in two completely different places, they still see the same stars. The Chinese word for star is “xing-xing” (pronounced sing sing)

The Moon

• It’s fun to look up to the sky and observe the Moon. 
• The Moon looks a little different every night and there are names for the different ways the Moon looks each night.
• Astronauts have traveled to the moon in a rocket ship. They have to wear space helmets since there is no air on the moon.
• The Moon is a very world different from our world. There are rocks, dirt, and craters but no people, plants, animals, lakes or rivers. You move very differently on the Moon too. You can jump much farther and higher on the Moon than you could on Earth.
• Children in China and children in the U.S. live very far away from each other, but they still see the same moon. The Chinese word for Moon is “yue-liang” (pronounced yueh lee-ahng).
• People all over the world like to share stories about the Moon