HR-Diagram on the floor

When my students begin to study the life cycle of stars I have them make an HR diagram on the floor, before they have been introduced to the HR diagram is.  Some teachers have them graph it with data on a piece of graph paper or perhaps using excel for practice .  I do this because I like that the students get to move around the classroom and get out of their seats. This is the website that I originally got the idea from.  I have since changed it to fit my classroom and student's needs. I also made the stars in Kelvin instead of Celsius to better match common HR diagrams.

This is the star papers to cut out.  I try to print them on color paper so that they correlate with the actual colors of the stars. They use meter sticks as the axes and I give them scratch pieces of paper so they can label their axes. I try and discourage them from using the numbers on the meter sticks so the stars do not bunch together. It also allows them to change the scale of the graph and allows them to experience more trial and error.  I will say it is a lot of fun to watch them think this through.  Most of them get really close but never usually think to put the hottest star towards the inside of the graph as a lot of common HR diagrams have. I like this however, because it gives us a chance to talk about different ways to set up a graph with the same set of data. The students who finish a lot earlier than other groups get instructed  to change the  X-axis to  make the real HR diagram they will later color and glue into their journals. You can have them take a picture or have them draw it in their science journal if there is time.  Super fun and easy activity for any level of student! Have fun!