Astronomy Lapbook

For your final project, you will be asked to produce a lapbook on a particular astronomical subject.

What is a lapbook? Generally speaking, lapbooking is a way of presenting information in a way that is artistic and engaging and that is often using the format of the information itself to communicate additional ideas. A lapbook is typically a book, but with only the outside and the inside (no pages). Think of a manila folder (often used when making lapbooks). If you close it, you have 2 external surfaces. If you open it you have either 2 internal surfaces or 1 larger internal surface, depending on the way you format your lapbook. A lapbook will contain lots of pieces of information presented in lots of different ways.

Ex. Let’s pretend I was making a lapbook on Ithaca. On the outside “cover” of the book, I would put a title: Ithaca, NY. Maybe I would draw a map on a sheet of paper of the City of Ithaca, and fold it like a map and glue it to the outside cover, so that people could open it up and see the place I’m talking about. Inside, I want to include information on the famous waterfalls. I include a single thin sheet that unrolls like a waterfall off the inside cover and contains a list of each waterfall in Ithaca, it’s height and water volume, and something it’s known for. That rolls back up and buttons onto the page to keep it closed. On the other inside cover, I have a drawing of the Commons with all the shops along it. Some shops have pockets in them and inside each of these pockets is information about that particular store on a little slip of paper, cut into a representative shape that communicates something about the shop. There is much more I might want to include here and lots of different ways I might present it.

Making a Base:

Lapbooks are traditionally folded with two door-like flaps on the front instead of in half, but you can format them anyway you want to. Here are some standard folding designs for you base, if you need them: