Why Do the Stars Twinkle?

Laura did an experiment today to go with her study of the constellations.  I really enjoy the Heart of Dakota science experiments.  They are so simple,  using household things.

Using a glass pan of water, some foil, and a flashlight, Laura saw an example of why we see the stars "Twinkle".

The Key Idea of the experiment is that the stars only appear to twinkle.  In actuality, the light is reflected and refracted off of our atmosphere.  That makes is seems to "Twinkle".  The light is distorted.

Laura loves doing experiments.  She looks forward to them every week.  This week we bumped up our science to include four days into three so we could take Fall Break.