Did you know that the Big Dipper is not really a constellation? It's actually just part of a constellation called Ursa Major, the Big Bear. The Big Dipper is the back and behind of the great bear, herself.
Knowing how to find the big dipper could be very important, especially if you were lost. If you can find the Big Dipper, you can figure out which direction is which, even without a compass. Let's try.
Imagine a line drawn from the bottom of the back "wall" of the "bowl" section to the top where the "handle" connects (That is from the star Merak to the star Dubhe). Think of that line as an arrow and follow it out. You'll see that it points to the end of the "handle" of another group of stars called the Little Dipper.