Space Wonders of the Universe

Welessons are going to watch a BBC Two programme, Wonders of the Universe, where we will learn about the evidence we have for the Big Bang theory.

Task: as we watch, complete the cloze activity!

• Although it might be easy to think that the universe has o wave length always existed, our best ______states it all emerged in o squashed one moment from an event known as the ______. • Our understanding of ______offers one of the most o rainbow ______pieces of evidence for the Big Bang that we o Starlight have. o scientific theory • What we see as the different colours in a ______are actually different wave ______of light. o away • ______is made up of countless different wavelengths. o beginning When we look at the most ______stars and galaxies in the universe, their light appears redder. o Big Bang • When light is omitted from a distant star or galaxy, its o Spectrum ______does not have to stay fixed – it can be squashed o or stretched. When light is stretched, its wave length light and colour increases, it moves to the red end of the ______. o distant • As the most distant galaxies appear red, scientists have o space ______this to mean that the ______between us and these galaxies has stretched during the time it has taken o interpreted the light to journey over that vast distant. This suggests o expanding our entire universe is ______. • If the universe is expanding, and everything is moving o lengths from each other, this suggests that at one point o significant everything must have been ______together. This implies the universe had a ______. This is the Big Bang theory.

Space Wonders of the Universe

Welessons are going to watch a BBC Two programme, Wonders of the Universe, where we will learn about evidence we have for the Big Bang

Answers

• Although it might be easy to think that the universe has always existed, our best scientific theory states it all emerged in one moment from an event known as the Big Bang. • Our understanding of light and colour offers one of the most significant pieces of evidence for the Big Bang that we have. • What we see as the different colours in a rainbow are actually different wave lengths of light. • Starlight is made up of countless different wavelengths. When we look at the most distant stars and galaxies in the universe, their light appears redder. • When light is omitted from a distant star or galaxy, its wave length does not have to stay fixed. It can be squashed or stretched – when light is stretched, its wave length increases, it moves to the red end of the spectrum. • As the most distant galaxies appear red, scientists have interpreted this to mean that the space between us and these galaxies has stretched during the time it has taken the light to journey over that vast distant. This mean our entire universe is expanding. • If the universe is expanding, and everything is moving away from each other, this suggests that at one point everything must have been squashed together. This implies the universe had a beginning. This is the Big Bang theory.