The idea
Auroras happen when energy from the Sun interacts with Earth’s atmosphere — and in this lesson, first graders find out why that makes the sky dance in color. The finished artwork is unmistakably Pacific Northwest: glowing auroras over the Seattle skyline, Mt. Rainier on the horizon, and an orca surfacing in the Puget Sound.
The science
The colors are the hook, because each one is a clue about the atmosphere:
- Green — oxygen, lower in the atmosphere
- Red — oxygen, higher up
- Blue and purple — nitrogen
Students explore how Earth’s magnetic field guides charged particles from the Sun toward the poles, using a globe and a flashlight as the model — and see a map of where in the world auroras appear most often. The lesson connects to a real event many local families remember: the aurora seen over the Pacific Northwest in 2024.
How the session flows
A 60-minute arc: the class opens with a picture book about the Northern Lights (The Lights that Dance in the Night by Yuval Zommer is the anchor read), moves through the science with images and a short video, then settles into the art. Students layer and blend oil pastels on black paper — greens and purples pulled into sweeping curtains of light with cotton swabs — before adding the skyline and their orca. The session closes with students sharing their skies and the colors they chose.
Why it works
Blending is the skill, and auroras are the perfect excuse to practice it: there are no wrong shapes, only light and motion. Every child leaves with a finished night sky that looks like it belongs on a wall — because it does.
This lesson was developed and taught by Dr. Ayesa Kaur as a STEAM Art program for first grade classrooms.