Activities About Astrology Activity K2 - Grade Level 7–12

Sep 15, 2026

Astrology-focused classroom activities help students distinguish science from pseudoscience by examining astrology claims through structured investigation. Learners test the validity of astrology by charting U.S. presidents’ birthdates, comparing horoscope claims across different newspapers, and attempting to determine their own sign from unidentified daily predictions. Guided discussion, worksheet-based analysis, and attention to bias, reasoning, and experimental thinking support inquiry skills and strengthen understanding of diversity and unity in scientific inquiry.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

What’s This Activity About?

What Will Students Do?

Tips and Suggestions

What Will Students Learn?

Activity Descriptions

Activity 1: Testing Astrology with the Birthdays of the Presidents

Extending the Activity

Activities About Astrology Activity K2 Grade Level: 7–12 Source: This activity was written by Andrew Fraknoi, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 390 Ashton Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94112. [http://www.astrosociety.org](http://www.astrosociety.org Copyright)[ Copyright](http://www.astrosociety.org Copyright) ©1993, 2010 by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. (The activity incorporates suggestions and ideas by Diane Almgren, Daniel Helm, and Dennis Schatz.) What’s This Activity About? These activities help students to understand the difference between science and pseudo-science by investigating some of astrology’s claims. Letting students have a good discussion after working with these activities can be very effective. We encourage you to read “Your Astrology Defense Kit,” found on The Universe at Your Fingertips disk, before leading these activities. What Will Students Do? Students test the validity of astrology by charting birthdates of U.S. presidents, and by comparing horoscopes in different newspapers. Finally, students attempt to identify their own sign from an unidentified list of daily predictions. Tips and Suggestions • Some of the activities need preparation, such as buying a variety of newspapers. Be sure to check the instructions in advance of doing the activity. • To expand on Activity 1, you could make a table of birthdays and sun-signs for other famous people like U.S. senators, world leaders, or award-winning actors, who might be expected to have common personality characteristics. • The final activity, where students try to identify their own sign from an unidentified group of signs, works especially well with larger groups of students. Perhaps you can get two or more classes together to increase the number of participants. • For more resources for understanding and testing astrology, see the guide “Responding to Claims of Astronomical Pseudoscience” (5 . 12) on The Universe at Your Fingertips disk. What Will Students Learn? | Concepts
• Astrology’s basic ideas
• Testing a scientific hypothesis | Inquiry Skills
• Predicting
• Inferring
• Reasoning
• Recognizing bias
• Experimenting | Big Ideas
• Big Ideas
• Diversity and Unity
• Science versus pseudoscience | | --- | --- | --- | The Universe at Your Fingertips • Astronomical Society of the Pacific Page 1 Activities About Astrology by Andrew Fraknoi (Foothill College & ASP) Introduction These activities help students to understand the difference between science and pseudoscience by investigating some of astrology’s claims. Letting students have a good discussion around these activities can be very effective, since the ideas of astrology can be both appealing and controversial in the eyes of your students. We encourage you to read “Your Astrology Defense Kit” on The Universe at Your Fingertips disk before doing these activities, but if you want to distribute it to students, we suggest you wait until they have completed the activities so as not to prejudice their outlook. Students can test the validity of astrology with three activities: 1. Charting birthdates ofU.S. presidents 2. Comparing horoscopes in different newspapers 3. Attempting to identify their own sign from an unidentified list of daily predictions. Activity Descriptions Activity 1: Testing Astrology with the Birthdays of the Presidents Astrologers will tell you that the Sun sign (which is the sign of the zodiac the Sun was in when a person was born) can’t tell you everything about an individual’s personality, but that is a crucial factor for the occupation a person chooses and a strong determinant of overall personality as it relates to one’s job. This would not apply to a summer job a college student takes in a department store, but Sun sign is expected to be a factor in careers that are personality driven, such as a stage actor, police officer, or meditation teacher. As an example of how we can test such a hypot

FAQs

What is the main goal of the Activities About Astrology Activity K2?

The activities aim to help students understand the difference between science and pseudoscience by investigating astrology’s claims through guided inquiry and discussion.

How do students test the validity of astrology?

Students chart U.S. presidents’ birthdates, compare horoscopes in different newspapers, and try to identify their own sign from an unidentified list of daily predictions.

What learning skills and concepts are emphasized in Activity K2?

Students focus on concepts like astrology’s basic ideas and on inquiry skills including predicting, inferring, reasoning, recognizing bias, and experimenting, alongside big ideas such as science versus pseudoscience.

Sep 15, 2026

Uploaded by Felix Montgomery