Awesome Light III: Teacher Packet Compiled by: Morehead State University Star Theatre with help from Bethany DeMoss Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Corresponding Standards 2 Vocabulary 4 Starry Night Activity Pack (Primary) 6 The Milky Way (Middle Grades) 17 The Universe: Big Bang Balloon (High School) 21 References 24 1 Corresponding Standards: Awesome Light III Next Generation Science Standards Support an argument that differences in the apparent brightness of the sun compared to other stars is due to their relative distances from Earth. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to relative distances, not sizes, of stars. Assessment does not 5-ESS1-1. include other factors that affect apparent brightness (such as stellar masses, age, stage).] Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis for the model is on gravity as the force that holds together the solar system and Milky Way galaxy and controls orbital motions within them. Examples of models can be physical (such 06-ESS1-2. as the analogy of distance along a football field or computer visualizations of elliptical orbits) or conceptual (such as mathematical proportions relative to the size of familiar objects such as their school or state).] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include Kepler’s Laws of orbital motion or the apparent retrograde motion of the planets as viewed from Earth.] Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the analysis of data from Earth- based instruments, space-based telescopes, and spacecraft to determine similarities and differences among solar system objects. Examples of scale properties include 06-ESS1-3. the sizes of an object’s layers (such as crust and atmosphere), surface features (such as volcanoes), and orbital radius. Examples of data include statistical information, drawings and photographs, and models.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include recalling facts about properties of the planets and other solar system bodies.] Develop a model based on evidence to illustrate the life span of the sun and the role of nuclear fusion in the sun’s core to release energy that eventually reaches Earth in the form of radiation. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the energy transfer mechanisms that allow energy from nuclear fusion in the sun’s core to reach Earth. Examples of evidence for the model include observations of the masses and HS-ESS1-1. lifetimes of other stars, as well as the ways that the sun’s radiation varies due to sudden solar flares (“space weather”), the 11-year sunspot cycle, and non-cyclic variations over centuries.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include details of the atomic and sub-atomic processes involved with the sun’s nuclear fusion.] Construct an explanation of the Big Bang theory based on astronomical evidence of light spectra, motion of distant galaxies, and composition of matter in the universe. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the astronomical evidence of the red shift HS-ESS1-2. of light from galaxies as an indication that the universe is currently expanding, the cosmic microwave background as the remnant radiation from the Big Bang, and the observed composition of ordinary matter of the universe, primarily found in stars and interstellar gases (from the spectra of electromagnetic radiation from stars), 2 which matches that predicted by the Big Bang theory (3/4 hydrogen and 1/4 helium).] Communicate scientific ideas about the way stars, over their life cycle, produce elements. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the way nucleosynthesis, and HS-ESS1-3. therefore the different elements created, varies as a function of the mass of a star and the stage of its lifetime.] [Assessment Boundary: Details of the many different nucleosynthesis pathways for stars of differing masses are not assessed.] Use mathematical or computational representations to predict the motion of orbiting objects in the solar system. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on Newtonian HS-ESS1-4. gravitational laws governing orbital motions, which apply to human-made satellites as well as planets and moons.] [Assessment Boundary: Mathematical representations for the gravitational attraction of bodies and Kepler’s Laws of orbital motions should not deal with more than two bodies, nor involve calculus.] KY Department of Education Social Studies Standards Students interact effectively and work S.S 2.17 (5th) cooperatively with the many ethnic and cultural groups of our nation and world. Students interact effectively and work S.S 2.17 (6th) cooperatively with the many diverse ethnic and cultural groups of our nation and world. 3 Awesome Light III Vocabulary Older Vocabulary Words Definition Satellite 1. object put into orbit around Earth or another planet in order to relay communications signals or transmit scientific data Galactic Plane Plane passing through a galactic center Telescopes instrument used for viewing distant astronomical objects Star a self-luminous gaseous spherical celestial body of great mass which produces energy by means of nuclear fusion reactions Mars 1. third smallest planet in the solar system and the fourth planet from the Sun. Jupiter Fifth planet from the sun and largest planet in our solar system Comet A group of small objects orbiting the sun that are composed of ice and dust, when a comet approaches close enough to the sun it can produce a long luminous tail Gas Giants 1. a class of a large, low-density planets composed primarily of hydrogen, helium, methane, and ammonia in either gaseous or liquid state (Jupiter) Universe all of space and everything in it including the galaxies, stars, planets, gases, and dust etc. Supernova explosive end to a star’s life that occurs when the star is no longer in equilibrium, caused when gravitational forces in the star are overcome by interior pressure pushing outward Binary System two stars that orbit a common center of mass, appearing as a single star when visible to the unaided eye 4 Awesome Light III Vocabulary Younger Vocabulary Words Definition Satellite 2. object put into orbit around Earth or another planet in order to communicate with Earth Telescopes Tool used for viewing distant objects in the sky Star point of light in the sky Mars 1. third smallest planet in the solar system and the fourth planet from the Sun. Jupiter Largest planet in the solar system Comet object in the sky that is identified by its long luminous tail Gas Giants 2. a large, low-density planet (Jupiter) Supernova explosive end to a star’s life Binary System two stars that are close together and appear as one star Constellations group of stars that form a pattern in the sky 5 Starry Night Activity Packet From: Starry Night Education 6 Lesson Plan G2 Activity Part Two • Student worksheets The Stars • Pens or pencils Activity Part Three • 1 small flashlight Introduction • 1 large and bright flashlight • A room that can be darkened We see the stars as tiny points of light in the sky. They may all look the same but they are not. They range in size, color, temperature, power, and Time Required life spans. Hands-on Activity Part One: 10 minutes In these hands-on and Starry Night computer Hands-on Activity Part Two: 30 minutes exercises, your students will explore the nature Hands-on Activity Part Three: 10 minutes of stars. They will see how different from one Starry Night Computer Exercise: 35-45 minutes another individual stars can be. They will observe a glowing body as it changes tempera- ture and color. Your students will plot some Conceptual Background properties of stars and learn how these different properties of stars are related to one another All stars form from cold clouds of hydrogen gas and to the mass of the star. They will learn that that collapse under their own gravity. The center the apparent visual brightness of a star is not a of the cloud heats up from the resulting increase good indicator of its distance. In Starry Night in pressure and friction. Eventually the heat and they will examine several different stars and pressure are great enough to force hydrogen they will see how some stars end their lives. nuclei to fuse together and form helium nuclei. This nuclear fusion process releases energy and the star shines with its own light. Key Concepts Stars are made of mostly hydrogen, which is I Stars are born, evolve and die. the most abundant element in the universe. Stars I Stars have a life cycle that depends on the use hydrogen as a building block to make heavier initial mass of the star. elements. As a star ages it fuses hydrogen into I The composition and structure of stars helium, and later the helium will be fused into changes at different stages in their life cycle. a series of increasingly heavier elements. As I Stars in the Milky Way can be different from the stars age and continue the fusion process, the Sun in size, temperature, age and brightness. percentage of hydrogen in the stars decreases I The Sun is a main sequence star. and the percentage of other heavier elements I Stars can be described as having apparent increases. The heaviest elements are fused in magnitude, absolute magnitude and luminosity. the most massive stars. This planet and all that it I Other planets orbit around other stars. contains, plus other planets in the solar system I Elements heavier than lithium are created in and around other stars, comes from the star-for- the cores of stars. mation process. Most of the characteristics of a star are gov- Materials Required erned by how much mass the star contains when it first forms.