Lesson Purpose
In the years following the Big Bang, hydrogen atoms floated freely around the Universe. These atoms were slightly more packed together in some places than in others. In the more crowded areas, the hydrogen atoms were close enough to each other to let gravity do its work. In these little pockets of hydrogen, stars lit up across our Universe.
The outcomes of this lesson are: 1.) To describe how stars form; 2.) To explain what happens in the life of a star and explain what happens when a star dies.
The outcomes of this lesson are: 1.) To describe how stars form; 2.) To explain what happens in the life of a star and explain what happens when a star dies.
Activity 1 - The Life of a Star
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Activity Objectives
This activity invites you to put what you already know about stars to work. At this stage, you won’t know a lot about the life cycle of a star, but you can probably make some good guesses. The goal here is not to help you to get the right answer. Instead, the goal is to set the stage for the videos that follow, which will answer the questions that will naturally form during this activity. Following up with the Star Comic activity later in the lesson will then provide you with a chance to formalize your understanding of the life cycle of a star. Activity Tasks
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Activity 2 - How were stars formed?
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The expansion of the Universe enabled atoms and energy to spread out. This created small pockets of activity across an otherwise empty space. In these little areas, gravity pulled together atoms, and then more and more atoms, until the first stars came to life. Stars attracted other stars to form galaxies. Galaxies attracted other galaxies to form clusters, and then clusters came together to form superclusters.
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Activity Objectives
Everything around us is made up of atoms. To understand how atoms are formed, we have to understand how stars die. To understand how stars die, we have to understand how they are formed. This video explains how stars formed out of the increasingly cold and empty early Universe. Activity Tasks
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Activity 3 - My Threshold Card
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Activity Objectives
Thresholds are a key part of the Big History story, organizing time around a series of discrete moments where the Universe became irreversibly more complex. For each of these thresholds, there are a set of ingredients and a set of Goldilocks Conditions that result in new complexities. In this activity, you will explore the concept of thresholds in greater depth. First, you should start by looking at the threshold card for Threshold 2. Next, you will create a threshold card of your own, illustrating a moment in your lives where things became more complex. You may draw upon the timeline you created in the opening activity from Lesson 1.4, My Timeline. Activity Tasks
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Activity 4 - A Big History of Everything H2
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Before stars, the Universe was cold and dark. With gravity pulling at areas where there were just a few more atoms, clouds of atoms soon formed. These clouds got denser and denser until finally, the temperature got really, really hot – over 10 million degrees. At this point, atoms started fusing together and bam! A star is born.
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Activity Objectives
This clip from the H2 program Big History explains the formation of stars. It is a short clip that provides a highly visual explanation, reinforcing the explanation from David Christian in the earlier video. Activity Tasks
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Activity 5 - Star Comic
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Activity Objectives
The opening activity for this lesson provided an opportunity for you to hypothesize on the life of a star, based on what they already knew. The main lecture video provided a lot of detailed information on the life of a star. This activity will provide you with the opportunity to formalize your understanding. Using your own words and drawings, you should document at least five details from the life of a star. The drawings need not be comprehensive in terms of the different paths stars might take. The key is that you understand the basics. Activity Tasks
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Activity 6 - DQ Notebook
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Activity Objectives
This activity will help you stay focused on the driving question for the unit, and allow you to see how your thinking has grown and changed based on new evidence and a new understanding of claim testing. Activity Tasks
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Activity 7 - This Threshold Today
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Activity Objectives
This Threshold Today activity asks you to make connections between today’s world and the events of each threshold. In Threshold 3, it is important and interesting for you to know that not only are we learning more and more about stars today, but stars are forming and dying today. Activity Tasks
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Challenge Yourself! - Optional Activities
1. Scientists at MIT use supercomputers to simulate how stars formed and the Universe evolved.
2. Check out the stunning pictures of a newborn star.
2. Check out the stunning pictures of a newborn star.