Stars: Teacher Packet

Stars: 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

Exploring Stars (Primary) 7

Space Travel Timeline (Middle Grades) 17

Solar Cookie (High School) 19

Reference 22

1

Corresponding Standards

Next Generation Science Standards

1-ESS1-1 Use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe patterns that can be

predicted. [Clarification Statement: Examples of patterns could include that the sun

and moon appear to rise in one part of the sky, move across the sky, and set; and

stars other than our sun are visible at night but not during the day.] [Assessment

Boundary: Assessment of star patterns is limited to stars being seen at night and not

during the day.]

K-2-ETS1-1 Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people

want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the

development of a new or improved object or tool.

4-PS4-2 Develop a model to describe that light reflecting from objects and entering the eye

allows objects to be seen. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include

knowledge of specific colors reflected and seen, the cellular mechanisms of vision,

or how the retina works

5-ESS1-1 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

include other factors that affect apparent brightness (such as stellar masses, age,

stage).]

6-ESS1-2 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 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.

HS-ESS1-1 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 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.]

HS-ESS1-3 Communicate scientific ideas about the way stars, over their life cycle, produce

elements. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the way nucleosynthesis, and

therefore the different elements created, varies as a function of the mass of a star and

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the stage of its lifetime.] [Assessment Boundary: Details of the many different

nucleosynthesis pathways for stars of differing masses are not assessed.]

HS-PS4-3 Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning behind the idea that electromagnetic

radiation can be described either by a wave model or a particle model, and that for

some situations one model is more useful than the other. [Clarification Statement:

Emphasis is on how the experimental evidence supports the claim and how a theory

is generally modified in light of new evidence. Examples of a phenomenon could

include resonance, interference, diffraction, and photoelectric effect.] [Assessment

Boundary: Assessment does not include using quantum theory.]

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Vocabulary: Stars

Younger

Vocabulary Words Definitions Star a point of light in the sky

Supernova explosive end to a star’s life Constellations group of stars that form a pattern in the sky

Sun yellow star in the middle of our solar system Galaxy large group of stars, gas, and dust pulled

together by gravity Milky Way our home galaxy named for its shape

Red Giant giant star of small mass that is at the end of a star’s life cycle

Black Hole a part of space where nothing can escape

Nebula a cloud of dust and gas in interstellar space

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Older

Vocabulary Words Definitions

Star self-luminous gaseous spherical celestial body of great mass which produces energy by means of nuclear fusion reactions

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

Constellations

a group of celestial bodies that appears to form a pattern in the sky, found by ancient people and used for entertainment, navigation, and a farming calendar

Geocentric Model belief held by ancient people that the Earth is the center of the Universe and all things orbit around it

Heliocentric Model model of the solar system that places the Sun in the center, Earth and the other planets orbit around the Sun

Electromagnetic Spectrum

range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation, the spectrum extends from low radio frequencies to gamma radiation

Sun yellow star located at the center of the solar system, surface temperature is 10,000F and the core is 27 million Fahrenheit

Milky Way our home galaxy, referred to as the barred galaxy due to shape of the central bulge and the shape of the galaxies arms

Universe all of space and everything in it including the galaxies, stars, planets, gases, and dust etc.

Globular Cluster a spherical collection of stars that orbits a galactic core as a satellite

Red Giant a giant star of low or medium mass in the end of a star’s life

Pulsar highly magnetized neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation

Black Hole a region of space from which nothing, not even light, can escape

Event Horizon around a black hole, the undetectable surface

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which marks the point of no return

Nebula a cloud of dust and gas in interstellar space

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Exploring Stars

From: Bethany DeMoss

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Created by: Bethany DeMoss

Exploring Stars

Learning Target #1: I can compare the location of stars with present and past star chart.

This activity is created to promote student understanding of patterns in the stars, focus on

the movement of stars. During this activity students will have the chance to track stars on paper

using star charts that can be found on the internet and other various resources. The following

worksheet is for students to complete while looking at a star chart. Two pages of star charts are

in the following pages, one labeled “Teacher Star Charts” and the other “Student Star Charts.”

There are only two significant differences in these charts, the teacher’s copy contains the names

of the astronomical stars and the student copies have been increased in size for student’s with

visual impairments. The main goal of this activity is for students to understand that stars do

move that they do not stay in the same place every night. An additional activity you can have

your student’s do is to have them go home at night and look at the stars. Do they look the same

as the previous night?

The following pages include:

Student Worksheet

Student Worksheet – TEACHER KEY

Student Star Charts

Teacher Star Charts

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Exploring Stars

1. Look at Star Chart #1

2. Find star #1, where is it located on the chart?

a. left

b. right

c. top


.

4. Where is star #3?

.

5. Look at Star Chart #2

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6. Find Star #1, is it in the same place as on your other chart?

.

7. Did the star move?

a. yes b. no

8. How do you know this?

.

9. Find star #2, is it in the same place as on your other chart?

a. yes b. no

Where is it?

.

10. What about star #3? What happened to it? Did it move?

.

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Exploring Stars – TEACHER KEY

1. Look at Star Chart #1 (January)


a. left

b. right

c. top

3. Find star #2, where is it located on the chart? In the middle towards the

bottom .

4. Where is star #3? Left (student’s can answer in various ways as long as

they know it is on the left side of the star chart .

5. Look at Star Chart #2 (April)

6. Find Star #1, is it in the same place as on your other chart? No (only possible

answer) .

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7. Did the star move?

a. yes b. no

8. How do you know this? It has moved countercloxckwise and has a new location.

(Student’s can answer in different possible ways as long as they have noticed that

the stars HAVE moved .

9. Find star #2, is it in the same place as on your other chart?

a. yes b. no

Where is it? Can either be answered: on the right OR where Star #1 was on chart

#1 .

10. What about star #3? What happened to it? Did it move? Star #3 has moved

counterclockwise just like stars 1 & 2, it is now located in the bottom of the star

chart (several possible answers, you want students to describe its movement) .

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Student Star Charts

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Teacher Star Charts

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Space Travel Timeline

From: Core Knowledge

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Solar Cookie

From: NASA

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http://sunearthday.nasa.gov

Public Outreach - Make and Take Activities

Edible Model of the Sun About this Activity

The Sun is a dynamic and active star. If you look at it with a telescope, or even with a pin-hole camera or special eclipse-glasses, you can see features on the sun that are moving and changing. (Remember you should never look directly at the sun!) Participants will make an edible model of the Sun’s outer layers using cookies and toppings. Left: Example of a finished “solar cookie”.

Below Right: Participant adding licorice prominences to his model of the Sun’s surface.

Preparation Cut licorice candy into short pieces and separate the strands. This activity can be messy, so we recommend table coverings and have a garbage bag nearby. We also like to divide the ingredients into a few smaller containers so multiple participants can use them at the same time.

To Do and Notice 1) Begin the activity by finding out what participants already know about the Sun. What does the Sun look like? Is it the same all over? Is it the same all the time? It might be helpful to have a few telescope images of the Sun on hand to serve as examples. Many participants might not have seen such an image before or have not looked at one closely. You’ll find links below for some good sources of images. 2) Give each participant a plain cookie and ask them to spread white frosting on top. 3) Shake some yellow and red sprinkles on the frosting. These form the granular appearance of the photosphere. 4) Place a few chocolate chips on the cookie to serve as sunspots. You might want to mention that sunspots appear in pairs and suggest them to put two chips close to each other. 5) Place a few pieces of licorice on the cookie, forming small arches. They can stand straight up as in the example above or lie flat to protrude off the edge of the cookie. These are prominences. You might want to mention that prominences are generally found near sunspots, where the area is active and has a stronger magnetic field.

Activity Notes Please note that the features we model with the cookie and toppings are only those of the surface layers of the Sun, which are the photosphere, the chromosphere, and the corona. These are features that we can see without any aids (sunlight), with simple pinhole projectors (sunspots), with eclipse-glasses (sunspots and some prominences), and with telescopes (all of the above plus granulation of the photosphere). To find out more about these layers and features, please refer to the links below.

What You’ll Need

round plain cookies (most generic brand sugar cookies would work.)

white frosting yellow and red sprinkles (found with baking decorations and food colorings in grocery stores.)

chocolate chips or M&M’s (We found that mini ones work best.)

pull-n-peel licorice candy, such as Twizzlers

plastic knives

small paper plates or napkins

images of the Sun

Related Websites

From Core to Corona: Introduction and definitions to the Sun’s layers and features http://fusedweb.pppl.gov/CPEP/Chart_pages/5.Plasmas/SunLayers.html

Sun-Earth Viewer: live solar images from multiple observatories (Click “Download Full-Size Image” on the bottom right for printable versions.) http://ds9.ssl.berkeley.edu/viewer/flash/

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References for Activities

Exploring Stars

DeMoss, Anna B. “Exploring Stars.” Morehead State University Star Theatre. 1 July 2014.

Space Travel Timeline

"Core Knowledge® Foundation." Core Knowledge® Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July 2014.

<http://www.coreknowledge.org/>.

Solar Cookie

"Sun-Earth Days 2013." Sun-Earth Days 2013. NASA, n.d. Web. 15 July 2014.

<http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2013/index.php>.

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Stars: Teacher Packet

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