YOUR KETE Learn about Matariki. How do you find it in the sky and why is it important? 2018 PRIMARY EDITION Includes a competition and pull-out poster.
WHAT IS? Matariki is a cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus. There are about a thousand stars in Matariki but only seven can be seen with the naked eye. MĀORI NAMES OF PLANETS Neptune Tangaroa FACTS The star cluster can be seen all around the world, so it has lots of different names, like: The Pleiades Greece The Seven Sisters Greece Subaru Japan The six wives of the six sages Tamil Seven chickens Thailand Matali I Samoan Astronomers call Matariki Messier45. For some iwi, the reappearance of Matariki in the pre-dawn sky signals the start of the Māori New Year, Ngā mihi o te Tau Hou! The Matariki festival starts at the first crescent Moon after Matariki has risen Saturn Rongo Uranus Whērangi Jupiter Pareārau WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? For some iwi, Matariki resets the Māori lunar calendar (maramataka). Calendars use the Moon to set the months and the Sun to mark the seasons. The cycle of the Moon around Earth (lunar cycle) doesn t fit evenly into the cycle of Earth around the Sun (solar cycle). Each year, the Moon cycle is around 11 days shorter than the solar cycle, meaning that after 12 months there is still about 11 days until Earth returns to the same position in its orbit around the Sun. Stars can be used to reset the calendar because they appear in the same place at the same time every year. When you see Matariki rising in the east at early dawn, you ll know the maramataka has been reset and a new year begins again. The Māori New Year is traditionally celebrated at the first crescent Moon after the first appearance of Matariki in the morning sky. This occurs between early and late June and this year is on the 15th June. Mercury Apārangi PLUS Mars Matawhero Earth Papatūānuku Venus Kōpū Milky Way Mangōroa Orion Tautoru Sun Tamanuiterā
HOW TO FIND AUCKLAND NORTH-EASTERN DAWN SKY 25 JUNE 2018 / 6:30AM Matariki is visible most of the year except in late autumn when it is too close to the Sun. In New Zealand it rises in the northeast and sets in the northwest, travelling across the northern sky in between. This movement, as with all other stars, is not caused by the stars themselves moving but by Earth turning, making it appear to move across the sky. Matariki appears further and further away from the eastern horizon as the year goes on until it sets again keep looking for it using this method. 2 1 ORION S BELT 1 To find Matariki, look for Orion s belt Tautoru 2 Follow a line through the three stars of Tautoru towards north and you will see a small cluster of stars. You ve found Matariki!
Taygeta Tupu-ā-rangi Sky tohunga Pleione Tupu-ā-nuku Earth tohunga Alcyone Matariki Small eyes The stars in Matariki were formed around 100 million years ago that s only 1/50th CLASSROOM RESOURCE Matariki is in the constellation of Taurus. Electra Waipuna-ā-rangi Sky spring Merope Ururangi Entry to the heavens Traditionally, Māori believed that the brighter the stars were, the warmer the coming season would be for growing crops. Atlas Waiti Sweetwater Maia Waita Sprinkle of water IT CONTAINS ABOUT A THOUSAND STARS, BUT ONLY SOME ARE VISIBLE WITH THE UNAIDED EYE. The seven brightest stars are also called th
the age of our Sun! THE CLUSTER, ALSO KNOWN AS THE PLEIADES, IS DOMINATED BY BLUE STARS WHICH ARE SCORCHING. THEY ARE MUCH HOTTER THAN OUR SUN! STARDOME.ORG.NZ 09 624 1246 e Seven Sisters. They are sisters because they are positioned close to one another and were formed from the same gas and dust cloud! Astronomers estimate the cluster will survive for about another 250 million years before all the stars drift apart. CAN BE SEEN FROM ALMOST EVERY SINGLE SPOT ON EARTH.
ACTIVITIES CREATE A CLASSROOM CLOAK Think about what Matariki means to you and put your ideas together as a class YOU'LL NEED A4 paper or card (coloured or white) per student Colouring pens, paint, feathers, glitter, decorating items anything crafty you have available 2 metres of black and red wool, streamers or string A3 thick card Tape or glue INSTRUCTIONS 1. Cut out a feather shape from your A4 paper. 2. Using the information about Matariki that you have learnt so far, decorate your feather with what Matariki means you. This could be what you think the stars look like, symbols or Māori traditions around Matariki. 3. As a class, cut the A3 card into thick strips and stick together at the ends to create approximately a one metre band. 4. Stick a row of feathers to the band, by gluing or taping the top 1cm of the feather to the bottom, underside of the band. 5. Arrange another row of feathers under the top row, by taping their top 1cm to the bottom 1cm of the feather above. Continue this until you have several rows of feathers. 6. Braid together the streamers or wool and stick this to the top of your classroom band. 7. Hang your class cloak on the wall or take turns wearing it. Decorate more than one feather each to make your class cloak even bigger.
MYSTERY PUZZLE Using your booklet, answer the questions in the boxes. Once you have all the answers, move the letters in the shaded boxes, in order, into the mystery word box. Then flick through your booklet again to find out what the mystery word means. Happy puzzling! What do astronomers call Matariki? What is Matariki known as in Japan? possible activities The Matariki cluster is dominated by what coloured stars? Each year, how many days shorter is the lunar cycle than the solar cycle? LAST YEAR maze crossword word search baking The Māori word for Neptune is what? The Māori word for Sun is what? How many stars are in the Matariki Cluster that we can see with our eyes? Which planet is known in Māori as Matawhero? Matariki is commonly known as what? The star called Electra has what meaning? Which constellation is Matariki part of? The hidden word is... This word means... Matariki is an open star cluster. More than 1,100 open clusters have been discovered within the Milky Way Galaxy, and many more are thought to exist!
COMPETITION What do you think the Matariki stars look like up close? Make your own Matariki star and send it in to be in the draw to WIN an ipod touch! NAME: ADDRESS: PHONE: EMAIL: SCHOOL: AGE: Terms and conditions: One entry per person. All contact details must be completed to be eligible for entry. All entries must be received before 5pm on 31 August 2018. Judges decision is final. SEND YOUR ENTRY TO: Matariki colouring competition, Stardome, PO Box 24 180, Royal Oak, Auckland 1345 STARDOME.ORG.NZ