Printable guide · ages 3–5
Piko’s Sky and Space Discoveries
Use simplified drawings to discuss one idea at a time. Four short explanations lead to three activities and a new making task. All sizes, distances and journey times are illustrative unless explicitly stated.
Materials: On-screen pictures are sufficient. Optional large paper cards. No outdoor visit, telescope, launch experiment or real sky observation is required. Never use these activities to look at the Sun.
What to notice
Notice using the place marker, named category or stated order rather than a familiar icon. Text and narration carry the same clues. Stars mark completion, not astronomical observation or mastery.
Ask “What does this model show, and what does it leave out?” Accept uncertainty about an actual sky object when the picture gives too little information.
Lesson 1
Day and night
Goal: Match a marked place facing sunlight with day and a place facing away with night.
Use only the drawings. No lamp aimed at eyes or looking towards the real Sun. The marker supplies the reference location; the Moon is not a night-only signal. This is a simplified model, not a polar-day calendar.
- Starting point
- Locate the golden dot before naming day or night.
- A helpful phrase
- “Which side gets the light in this drawing?”
- A common mix-up
- Night at one place does not mean the Sun turned off.
- Notice the transfer
- Reverse the requested order without changing the light direction.
Show: Now put night first, then day.
Lesson 2
Our star, the Sun
Goal: Identify the Sun as a star that produces its own light.
No direct solar viewing is needed or requested. Do not infer star or planet merely from colour or a five-point icon. The named examples and light descriptions determine these answers.
- Starting point
- Introduce the own-light and reflected-light symbols.
- A helpful phrase
- “What is the light clue for our star?”
- A common mix-up
- The Sun is not a different category from other stars.
- Notice the transfer
- Compare the Sun clue to the Moon clue.
Show: Now put the Sun’s light first, then the Moon’s.
Lesson 3
Earth is our home
Goal: Recognize Earth as our home planet and distinguish a whole-planet model from a house.
Do not request a home address or location. The house is fictional. The Earth icon is a simplified globe; blue/green colour recognition is not required because each card is named.
- Starting point
- Place the house and globe cards beside each other.
- A helpful phrase
- “Which card shows a whole planet?”
- A common mix-up
- A large house drawing can represent a smaller real thing.
- Notice the transfer
- Swap the whole-planet and house place labels.
Show: Put the whole Earth first, then the house.
Lesson 4
The Moon’s shapes
Goal: Recognize full and crescent appearances as views of the same Moon reflecting sunlight.
No full lunar-phase cycle is assessed. These two views are explicitly separated by an unspecified longer interval. Do not explain ordinary phases as Earth’s shadow or describe the Moon as night-only.
- Starting point
- Say that both cards show the same round Moon.
- A helpful phrase
- “The visible bright part changes.”
- A common mix-up
- A crescent drawing does not mean the Moon broke.
- Notice the transfer
- Build only the stated two-picture record.
Show: Put them in Piko’s order: first the full moon, then the crescent.
Lesson 5
A star and a planet
Goal: Distinguish named Sun/star and Earth or Mars/planet examples using their light descriptions.
Classify only the named examples. Do not score unknown night-sky points by colour, apparent size, five points or twinkling alone. Full planet definitions and non-Sun-orbiting objects are beyond this introductory lesson.
- Starting point
- Read the name and light clue together.
- A helpful phrase
- “Which named example makes its own light?”
- A common mix-up
- A bright dot can be a star or a planet.
- Notice the transfer
- Replace the Earth example with Mars.
Show: Now the planet first, then the star.
Lesson 6
A rocket trip
Goal: Sequence preparation, launch and later space travel in a stated fictional mission.
No model rocket, fire, pressure, fuel or launch experiment is requested. The mission is fictional; diagrams compress time and omit engineering stages. No real launch schedule or mission outcome is claimed.
- Starting point
- Name the three story stages before ordering.
- A helpful phrase
- “What must happen before our launch picture?”
- A common mix-up
- A rocket can carry robotic equipment without people.
- Notice the transfer
- Match the new robot payload with the launch vehicle.
Show: Put the rocket lifting off first, then the satellite it carries.
Lesson 7
Near and far
Goal: Compare near and far positions from a fixed reference without using the drawn object’s size.
This is a one-dimensional page-distance comparison, not the Earth–Moon–Sun scale. The reference and object size are kept constant in each pair. Do not infer real distance from an unrelated image’s apparent size.
- Starting point
- Find the identical flag in both pictures.
- A helpful phrase
- “Compare the gap from this same starting place.”
- A common mix-up
- Larger drawing does not necessarily mean a larger real body.
- Notice the transfer
- Change the objects to equal-size rocket symbols.
Show: Put the rockets in place: far first, then near.
Lesson 8
Sky diary
Goal: Sequence explicitly described sky observations without forecasting or inferring unseen events.
No outdoor observation, location or personal record is required. Do not use a Moon icon to infer night or a cloud icon to infer a celestial body is absent. The task checks the reported sequence only.
- Starting point
- Read the first fictional record before presenting cards.
- A helpful phrase
- “What was reported, and what was not reported?”
- A common mix-up
- A record of seeing is not a forecast or proof of absence.
- Notice the transfer
- Use the second record with a different starting card.
Show: A new evening: Moon first, then clouds, stars last. Put them in order.
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