You can view and download for free Chapter 1 of Charlene Brotman's 6-chapter, acclaimed project-style children's book. This first chapter ("Awesome Stuff #1") is titled, "We're Made of Star Stuff!" The whole book is designed as a fun workbook for elementary age kids who can read. Ideal for homeschool, private school, and liberal religious education programs.
Connie Barlow has posted an 80-page pdf on this website from which you can print (for free) any or all of the components of an 8 to 12 session curriculum for religious educators, private school teachers, and homeschooling parents to use with their elementary-age students. This curriculum is based on 5 years of Connie's experience, bringing the wonders of cosmic science to kids in a variety of settings. Note: It takes a long time to download, so be patient. LEFT: Connie with Montessori children in Houston, 2005, doing the chime follow-up to the Stardust Ritual.
Lessons in the Stardust Curriculum
Lesson 1: What Is Your Cosmic Age?
Lesson 2: Stars in The Lion King
Lesson 3: What Is the Sun Creating?
Lesson 4: Red Giants Made the Air!
Lesson 5: Big Blues Made Everything Else
Lesson 6: Finding Ancestors in the Sky
Lesson 7: The Circle of Life in the Heavens
Lesson 8: Cosmic Communion Ceremony
Supplementary Lesson A: Birthday Stars
Supplementary Lesson B: The Startull Parable
Supplementary Lesson C: This is Your Universe
Supplementary Lesson D: Stardust Christmas Song
SKYWATCH / SLEEPOVER
Click here for actual "Stories of Awakening" that demonstrate how
learning the science of stardust can delight children in feeling at home in the Universe.
Teachers or parents who choose either curriculum are strongly encouraged to read about the SCIENCE OF STARDUST on this website, by clicking on Stardust background document.
Note: This stardust curriculum was written in 2007, revised in 2010. The science pushes ahead. A 2-page pdf, "Our Cosmic Selves", by Ray Jayawardhana in 2015, in New York Times, is a quick way to get up to date with new discoveries.
"Raised on Starstuff" - a short essay that chronicles a family dialogue by Bill Bruehl with his now-adult children on what it was like for them to be raised with the stardust story, especially in lieu of traditional religious education.
Software enables Carl Sagan to sing his celebration of our birth in the Universe, as stardust learning its own story
5-minute YouTube video of Neil deGrasse Tyson
(today's dynamic astrophysicist and science popularizer)speaking enthusiastically of his peak spiritual experiences in doing science — including "we are made of stardust!"
You may download, print, and use any and all of these resources, without seeking permission, for all purposes other than publication. (Contact us if you wish to include them in a book or magazine.) And please hotlink our site to yours.
