A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars was created and a cultural phenomenon began. Star Wars’ focus on themes of good and evil, facing the unfamiliar, strange weapons, and explorable frontiers has led to an epic paracosm spanning generations of entertainment and creating worldwide fervent devotees. Such an ardent fan base must be celebrated, and so “May the Fourth” was created, stemming from the parallels between the date and the famous movie line, “May the force be with you.” If you’re struggling with ways to bring this epic saga down to Earth, have no fear! PBS LearningMedia has material for students of all ages and levels to connect with and enjoy.
This May the Fourth, celebrate and teach Star Wars Day the way it was always intended: Spread it over several periods, span all academic subjects, and, as Yoda said, “Pass on what you have learned.”
SCIENCE
That’s no moon — that’s a space station! Through the labs and videos attached, students will learn about gravity assist and how it changes a spaceship’s speed and direction. In this classroom resource, NASA scientist Victoria Garcia uses VR to design spaces for astronauts and uses her deafness to her advantage. Have your students learn how we use gravity to explore the solar system and then watch some clips of the space exploration in Star Wars. Or, instead of bringing balance to the force, balance some scales to solve equations using critical thinking and visual problem solving in this interactive exercise from PBS LearningMedia's classroom resource collection from GBH Education, Math at the Core.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Democracy won’t die to thunderous applause if you can create some real-world connections between Star Wars and the world in which we all live. Talk with your students about the factors that made the Star Wars franchise such an incredible success. As the fastest movie to reach one billion dollars at the box office and a franchise that's impacted generations of fans, it's inspired innovations in such fields as robotics. Introduce your students to Cynthia Breazeal, a ground-breaking "robotic life scientist" who channeled inspiration from the movie into building robots that "contribute to a better quality of life for everyone." You can also teach about space as the final frontier through the process of designing the James Webb Space Telescope. If you’d rather focus on the trek to space exploration, have students gallery walk this collection of missions and milestones from NASA over the years. Finally, you can also encourage your students to work towards the greater good of their community through firefighting — Star Wars style.
VISUAL ARTS
The Star Wars movies are a visual feast for artists of all ages. Whether you are looking at the rich costuming details, vibrant landscapes, or the innovative prosthetics and puppetry, you’ll find a winning path if you teach using Star Wars. After discussing and learning about the works of the Color Field painters of the 1950s and 1960s, students can look at stills from the Star Wars movies before creating their own masterpieces with a galactic-themed inspiration. Or, discuss the different fabric and skin textures used within the Star Wars universe in comparison to the different textures explained here by KQED’s Elements of Art series. Students can mimic the textures of the Star Wars universe and creatively express themselves through many artistic mediums.
ENGLISH
Through tropes and techniques alone, there’s plenty of material to engage students in a May the Fourth lesson plan. However, it’s also worth looking exclusively at the protagonists of the Star Wars series and seeing how they hold up against other Heroes. Have students watch parts of the Crash Course on the Hero's Journey, and then chart Anakin, Luke, and Rey against other heroic characters from similar epic tales. However, if informational texts are more up your alley, help students differentiate science and pseudoscience by watching this video on how to read science news before looking at some examples to help teach students how to determine fact from fiction.
MATH
The galaxies of Star Wars are certainly entrenching and awe-inspiring, but it’s always more fun to create something yourself. Start with some lessons on early pattern recognition using addition, subtraction, and geometry, then explore the galaxy and begin predicting the patterns of the Sun, Moon, and stars.
USING STAR WARS TO BRIDGE DIVIDES
Much like Star Wars, creative teachers have a flair for the dramatic. There may be vast distances between us, deep moral divisions on how to use the force, and cool technological tools that we apply, but when we pause to reflect on what we all have in common, together, we can bring balance to the force.