Module 2 – the Sun Lesson 1: Solar Prominences and Sunspots

Module 2 – The Sun Lesson 1: Solar Prominences and Sunspots

Overview The first lesson on the Sun starts with the qualitative comparisons that students practiced in Module 1. Here we compare the size of the Sun to the Earth, locate sunspots on the Sun, and determine its rotation period. We also investigate solar prominences and compare them to the size of the Earth. Students will refine their measurements using Earth-scaled beads on a string as a ruler.

Learning Outcomes • Quantitatively compare the Earth and Sun in size. • Explain what a solar prominence is and quantitatively compare the size of the Earth to the size of a solar prominence. • Describe how solar magnetic fields and coronal loops are produced. • Describe what a sunspot is. • Given a sunspot shown at different times, calculate the Sun's rotational period at that solar latitude and compare it to the value given in the text, pg. 35 of Touch the Sun.

Materials needed • Touch the Sun Braille book by Noreen Grice • Different size balls, from 1 mm to 300 mm • 3 mm "Earth beads" • Cafeteria trays or aluminum bins to keep all beads and small materials. • 12 inch diameter Styrofoam Sun ball with attached sunspots (washers, beads, or indentations). • Flexible wire loops to attach to the sunspots on the Sun balls. • Earth measurement ruler: 3 mm Earth beads attached to a stiff wire. The "Sun" is represented by a 12-inch Styrofoam ball mounted on a regular cold-drink cup so that students can tell which way is "up." The sunspots are represented by circles cut out of magnetic sheets and glued onto the foam. By using paper clips or other wire, students can tell the magnetic characteristics of the "sunspots." The looping wire from two of the sunspots represents a large prominence. If a smaller foam ball is used for the Sun, then the Earth measuring beads should be proportionally smaller as well to maintain the correct relative measurements.

Figure 2.1.1. A 12-inch Styrofoam ball is converted into our sun with sunspots and prominences. The solar equator and poles are marked but not visible here.

9/8/18 Module-2_.pages !1 Pre-assessment Questions and Discussion Q. Which is the closest star to Earth? A. The Sun Q. What makes our star, the Sun, special and important to life on Earth? A. Almost all life is dependent on the Sun for energy, warmth; plants use sunlight to grow. Q. How long does it take light to leave the Sun to reach Earth? A. About 8 minutes. Q. What is your guess as to how the size of the Sun compares to the Earth? A. Interesting answers may be expected.

Text Students should read pages 3-5, 19-21, 23-29, 31-33, 35-37, and 39-41 of Touch the Sun, with the reading broken up into logical, reasonable blocks of time. See follow-up questions for assessing learning and guiding discussions. A. Earth and Sun Size Comparison: pp. 3-5. Tactile picture on pg. 5 gives the comparison with a line-up of Earth's across the Sun's equator. 1. How different are the sizes of the Earth and the Sun? 2. Were you surprised at what you found? B. Comparison of a prominence and our Earth: pp. 19-21. Tactile picture on pg. 21 demonstrates a comparison of the size of a typical solar prominence with the size of our Earth. 1. What is a solar prominence? How is it created? 2. How does the size of the Earth compare to the size of a solar prominence? Were you surprised at this? C. The Sun with Magnetic Field Lines and The Sun as Seen by the TRACE Satellite: pp. 23-29. Tactile picture on pg. 25 shows how the Sun would look if we could "see" magnetic field lines. Tactile picture on pg. 29 shows coronal loops as seen by NASA's TRACE solar telescope. 1. What produces the solar magnetic fields? 2. How are coronal loops produced?

D. The Sun with Sunspots: pp. 31-33 and Sunspots in Motion Over Time: pp. 35-37. Tactile picture on pg. 33 shows an image of the Sun with sunspots. 1. Describe what a sunspot is, including its temperature, how it is formed, what it looks like. 2. Tactile picture on pg. 37 shows sunspot motion over time. 3. Comment on what you discovered about the Sun's rotational period.

E. Size Comparison of Earth and a Sunspot: pp. 39 - 41. Tactile picture on pg. 41 gives comparison of Earth size to size of a sunspot. 1. Quantitatively compare the size of the Earth to the size of other solar features.

!2 Follow up Questions on Reading Included with sectional reading above.

Reinforcing Hands-On Activities Exploration and Measurement: Students locate the sunspots on the Styrofoam sun by touch and by using a paper clip to detect them. If properly placed, some students may discover their distribution both above and below the Sun's equator. Using the sun ball, students attach flexible wire loops to sunspots on the surface to create solar prominences and coronal loops. Students are given an Earth measurement ruler consisting of 3 mm "Earth beads" (each bead representing an increment of Earth diameter) attached to a stiff wire. This ruler measures the sizes of various solar features in terms of the Earth's diameter. Group discussions should follow each part of the lesson. Suggested topics include the detection of the sunspots, ease in building the solar prominences, expression of the sizes of solar prominences, and overall impressions of the activity of the Sun.

Summary and Post-Assessment Questions 1. About 110 earths would fit across the diameter of the Sun. What does that comparison mean to you? 2. Part of the Sun’s activity includes the huge arcs of plasma and gas called prominences. How does the size of the Earth compare to those? 3. The Sun has a magnetic field that extends well out into the solar system. Does the Earth have a magnetic field? Do we have objects here on Earth that can create magnetic fields? 4. Explain what sunspots and prominences are. What do the magnetic fields of the Sun have to do with them? 5. How do coronal loops differ from prominences? 6. A day on Earth is 24 hours. Let’s say you could live on the equator of the Sun. You look up and see Earth in the middle of the sky. How long would it take before the Earth returned to the middle of you sky on the Sun?

Relevant Information and Links • Solar Music — Helioseismology: https://www.noao.edu/education/ighelio/solar_music.html

• Solar Sounds — http://soi.stanford.edu/results/sounds.html

• NASA Space Place - the Sun — https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/menu/sun/

!3 Lesson 2: Interior Layers of the Sun, Coronal Mass Ejections, and the Solar Wind

Overview This lesson expands upon the material in Touch the Sun by letting the students view 3-D models of the images they might find confusing about the book's tactile figures. The processes occurring in the various zones of the Sun and how radiation gets through each layer is emphasized through questions and discussions. The Earth-Sun connection is briefly covered.

Learning Outcomes • Given a tactile picture showing the layers of the Sun and/or a Sun ball with the layers cut out and marked, name each layer. • Describe what is going on in each layer and how radiation (energy or heat) gets through each layer. • Distinguish between coronal mass ejections and the solar wind. • Describe how solar activity changes with time. • State how the Earth's magnetic field protects us. • Identify an interesting fact about the Sun.

Materials • Touch the Sun Braille book by Noreen Grice • 12-inch or smaller diameter Styrofoam or purchased sun ball with interior layers identified using tactile patterns

Figure 2.2.1. Model cross section of the Sun with tactile materials glued on one interior surface to represent the various regions. Model was purchased from Science First. Diameter is about 6 inches. [May not be available.]

Figure 2.2.2. An 8-inch Styrofoam sun carved using a hot Sty- rofoam cutting tool. This model clearly shows the size of the core and translates the corresponding figure in the Touch the Sun book into 3-D touch access.

!4 Pre-assessment Questions & Discussion Q. What do you think the sun is made of? A. Gas (plasma), primarily hydrogen, helium, with tiny bits of other elements. Q. Describe what the inside of the Sun must be like. What is going on in there? A. Very hot, fusion, don't know.... Q. Atmospheric and solar scientists often talk about the "solar wind." What do you think they mean? A. Some students may know; goal is to introduce the concept of charged particles blowing past the Earth. Q. There is a saying that states, "When the Sun sneezes, the Earth catches a cold." What do you think that means? A. We feel the effect of any change in the Sun, especially when it releases energetic charged particles in the direction of Earth.

Text Students read pages 11-13, 43-49, and 59-65 of Touch the Sun, broken into logical and time-relevant segments. See follow-up questions for assessing learning and guiding discussions. A. The Interior Layers of the Sun: pp. 11-13. Tactile picture on pg. 13 shows convective zone, radiative zone, and core. 1. List the names of the interior layers of the Sun from the very center to the surface. 2. What is going on in each of the layers? 3. How does the radiation get through each layer? B. Coronal Mass Ejection and Solar Activity over Time: pp 43 - 49. Tactile picture on pg. 45 shows patterns of coronal mass ejections. Tactile picture on pg. 49 shows changes in solar activity over time. 1. What are coronal mass ejections? 2. How is the solar wind different from coronal mass ejections? C. The Sun During a Solar Storm and Space Weather: pp. 59-65. Tactile picture on pg. 61 shows the Sun during an active solar storm. Tactile picture on pg. 65 shows solar wind, coronal mass ejections, and the shape of the magnetic field of the Earth. 3. What role does the Earth's magnetic field play in protecting us from harmful effects of the Sun's activity?

Follow up Questions on the Reading Included in the above section.

!5 Reinforcing Activities Exploration: Students explore a sun ball that has a wedge cut out or the purchased one and its layers or zones and core marked with tactile patterns similar to those on pg. 13 of Touch the Sun. If there are not enough models for each student, pass the model around to individuals and have them answer the questions related to the core, radiative zone, convection zone, and surface as the model is passed along. As the viewing is occurring, ask the following:

• Core • How does the size of the core compare to the rest of the Sun? • Fusion occurs only in the core. Why do you think this is? • Why does the core of the Sun have to be so hot, 17,000,000 Kelvin? • Radiative zone • What zone of the Sun lies just outside the core? How does its size compare to that of the core and the layer just above it?

• What would you have to do to imitate the "random walk" of a photon as it gets through the radiative zone?

• Convective zone • What zone lies just above the radiative one? • We can think of this zone as "boiling" like crazy in order to transport heat out to the surface of the Sun. What familiar analogy can you think of?

• Photosphere • We call the surface of the Sun the photosphere. Is it really a surface as we would define the term?

Summary and Post-Assessment Questions 1. Name the various regions of the Sun from the very center to what we call its surface. 2. What is happening in the core of the Sun? Why is this so important to us? 3. Are there always sunspots on the Sun? Do their numbers change with time? 4. Why do we care that the Earth has a magnetic field, even though it is weaker than the Sun’s?

Relevant Information and Links

• From the United Kingdom, a good summary of geomagnetism — https://youtu.be/gRKnDTcv-CE • The Music of the Magnetosphere (2000) -- http://www.archive.org/details/auroral_chorus_2_cd • A Huge M2 Solar Flare And Coronal Mass Ejection Erupted On The Sun On July 14th. (Space News) — https://youtu.be/z72actLQr2I

!6 Learning Outcomes EALR

Module 2 Lesson 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2

Qualitatively compare the Earth and Sun in size.

Explain what a solar prominence is and quantitatively compare the size of the Earth to the size of a solar prominence.

Describe how solar magnetic fields and coronal loops are produced.

Describe what a sunspot is.

Given a sunspot shown at different times, calculate the Sun's rotational period at that solar latitude and compare it to the value given in the text, pg. 35 of "TS".

Module 2 Lesson 2

Given a tactile picture showing the layers of the Sun and/or a Sun ball with the layers cut out and marked, name each layer.

Describe what is going on in each layer and how radiation (the energy or heat) gets through each layer.

Distinguish between coronal mass ejections and the solar wind.

Describe how solar activity changes with time.

State how the Earth's magnetic field protects us.

Identify an interesting fact about the Sun.