Re: where can i find the history of ursa major and ursa minor

http://www.howard.k12.md.us/hses/hskid/Katie/ursaMajor.html#History
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dipper
and http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/the_universe/Constellations/circumpolar/ursa_major.html&edu=high
have information on Ursa Major, and legends/history surrounding it. I've found that many common skywatching books have a historical overview of all the major constellations, and most have fascinating stories behind them (usually associated with ancient Greek myths). You should be able to find and cite as a reference any skywatching or stargazing book from your library or at a local bookstore. Most bookstores (Barnes & Noble, Waldenbooks, etc...) typically have a good sky reference on their sale racks for $5-10 if you're interested in actually knowing your way around the sky. Just a little reading and you can get oriented to what's up there pretty easily, and the historical information in the back of most of them (they generally follow similar formats, with a section on the origins of names for constellations and planets in a separate section) can help you with your report. You should attempt to give these books a proper reference (end notes or footnotes).