Science · Grade 3–4 to Grade 7–8
The sun's path: the zodiac
The year as a ring of star shapes the sun passes through.
A ring of star shapes circles the screen, and your child follows the line from the Earth through the sun to find which shape the sun is in this month. Each shape comes with its real stars and a story from one people.
- Grade 3–4 to Grade 7–8
- 10 min
- Nothing to prepare
- On the screen
Free to sign up.
Is it a good fit?
- Ready if Your child knows the months in order and their own birthday month.
- Too much today? Start with Our solar system: the Earth, the sun and the planets in order first.
- Too easy? The Grade 5–6 level: how Babylon split the sun's path into twelve to count the year, and the thirteenth shape the old list left out.
What your child practises
- The year as a circle
- Keeping time by the sky
- Star names from many peoples
“My birthday shape is behind the sun, so I cannot see it then.”
If your child says something like this, in their own words, the idea has landed. Finishing the rounds means they took part; this is the learning.
Your part
- Nothing to prepare
- Each question has a Read it to me button
- Plays alone: the sky says the season, never the person, and no sign is ever read as a character or a future
More like this
The full design
What it is
Twelve (thirteen) star shapes in a ring the sun walks through in a year: a calendar older than writing, with stories from many peoples, and one surprise about your own birthday. Skill: the year as a circle in the sky; how people used the sky to keep time; what a name is and is not.
How it goes
The ring on screen, the Earth placed for the month, the line from the Earth through the sun → the child taps the shape it reaches → a miss is sent back along the line → the shape's figure with its real stars, and a story from one people.
The Pet
Notices: "your birthday shape is the one you cannot see." Asks: "turn round: what is behind the Earth?" Admits not knowing: which story is oldest; nobody does.
By band
3–4: the ring of thirteen at the sky's own spacing; the Earth moved by month; which shape is behind the sun in your birthday month and why you cannot see it then (it is up in the daytime); which one you can, at midnight. 5–6: Babylon divided the path into twelve to count the year; the thirteenth shape the old list left out; three stars placed by their Arabic and Greek names. 7–8: the old list is a month out against today's sky, and the slow wobble of the Earth that did it, a claim the child checks against a star chart.
What it grows
NASA Space Place on the zodiac; the IAU on star names. Guardrail line (the card carries it): the sky says the season, never the person; no game here reads a character or a future from a sign.
Done, and what counts as evidence
Done = the ring walked once. The 7–8 chart check is an observation.
What's personal
The child's birthday month (the month only, the child's to say, kept for the game and never stored).