Home Geography for Primary Grades

<div class="chaptext" id="l3"><SPAN name="less3"></SPAN> <div class="lesson">LESSON III.</div> <div class="chaphead">HOW THE STARS SHOW DIRECTION.</div> <table summary="illustration" width="100" border="0" align="right" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td><SPAN href="images/005_l.gif" target="_blank" id="ill5"><ANTIMG src= "images/005.jpg" border="0" alt="THE GREAT BEAR." /></SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <div class="caption">THE GREAT BEAR.</div> </td> </tr> </table> <p>You have learned how to tell north, south, east, and west by the sun; but how can we tell these directions at night?</p> <p>Ask some one to point out to you a group of seven bright stars in the north part of the sky. Some people think that this group of stars looks like a wagon and three horses; others say that it looks like a plow.</p> <p>The proper name of the group containing these seven stars is the Great Bear. The group was given this name because men at first thought it looked like a bear with a long tail.</p> <p>These seven stars are called the Dipper. It is a part of a larger group called the Great Bear. Find the two bright twinkling stars farthest from its handle. A line drawn through them will point to another star, not quite so bright, called the North Star. That star is always in the north; so by it, on a clear night, you can tell the other directions at once.</p> <p><i>Write on your slates</i>:</p> <p>Sailors out on the sea at night often find direction by looking at the North Star.</p> </div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />