Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

5 minutes – The story so far...
5 minutes – Tune in: The Big Bang in action and the birth of stars visualised
20 minutes – Find out: How stars were born
25 minutes – Take action: Researching stars
5 minutes – Reflection

Presentation slides

We strongly encourage you to use the Presentation Slides as a guide for yourself and your students through this lesson.

The story so far...

Step 1.

Revisit the story so far, using the Threshold Cards as a guide to retell the story of the history of the universe. Students should be involved in the retelling - you might nominate different students each lesson to be responsible for a different threshold. Prompt them to explain what ingredients were present in the universe at the time, what goldilocks conditions existed to enable a change, and the new complexity it resulted in.

Remember, students' explanations can't be wrong, but you might supplement them with the information below.

In the beginning, we weren't sure there was anything in the universe. If there was, we don't know what it was. We also don't know what the conditions were like. However, something happened, which we know as the Big Bang. This caused the universe to change so much that we recognise it as a new complexity - almost a totally new place. After that, we had space, time, matter (hydrogen and helium), and energy (gravity and electromagnetism).

The universe had changed once again.

Tune in: The Big Bang in action and the birth of stars visualised

You can also use the Presentation Slides to guide you through these steps.

Step 1.

You'll need a bit of space to conduct this fun warm-up activity, so consider heading outside to the basketball court if you don't have a large space in your classroom.

Step 2.

Remind students that during the Big Bang, all matter expanded from one singularity out into the universe.

Model this by throwing your collection of Lego pieces up into the air and letting them hit the floor and spread far and wide.

Step 3.

Now, ask students to combine the pieces that have landed close together. You can be a bit lenient with how far pieces have to be from each other to be pulled in and combined together. It's okay if some pieces don't look like they belong in the group - they can continue to drift all on their lonesome.

Step 4.

Explain to students that this is how stars formed. Gravity pulled in specific elements that were close together in space and heated them up.

Let's explore this further.

Find out: How stars were born

Step 1.

In Lesson 3 we learnt that there was nothing - no matter (stuff), no time, no sense of 'space' - until the Big Bang created those things.

So, what did the Big Bang actually give us?

Space
Time
Matter - The early universe was made up of hydrogen atoms (¾ or 75% of matter) and helium atoms (approximately ¼ or 23% of matter) which is still in our universe today.
Energy - Two of the four forms of energy to come out of the big bang were electromagnetism and gravity.

Step 2.

Watch to 5:20:

Astrophysicist Explains Gravity in 5 Levels of Difficulty | WIRED (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcUey-DVYjk)

Provisions for Learning Extension: Independently, students could read What is Gravity? (NASA) (spaceplace.nasa.gov/what-is-gravity/en/) for more detailed information.

They could also watch Electromagnetism: A Brief Big History (H2) | Unit 2: Big History Project | OER Project.

Step 3.

Then, 200,000 years after the Big Bang, stars began to form, as gravity caused the elements of hydrogen and helium to combine over time.

Watch:

Threshold 2: The Stars Light Up | Big History Project (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4bDw1YlyDQ)

Step 4.

Watch:

A Star is Born | How the Universe Works (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkktE_fs4NA)

Take action: Researching stars

Step 1.

Independently, students will work through the Student Worksheet to demonstrate their understanding of how stars are formed.

Step 2.

Students will then research a star of their choosing.

There are a number of resources listed on the Student Worksheet to help them with this task, including:

Research a star (www.windows2universe.org/the_universe/antares.html&edu=elem)
100,000 stars (stars.chromeexperiments.com/) Note: If students are using this site, you may need to show them that they can stop the video to click on a star name to find information about that star.
Star facts for kids (www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/space/stars.html)
Stars (starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/universe_level1/stars.html)

Provisions for Learning Support: If you wish to guide some students more specifically you can research the sun with them The sun: our closest star.

Step 3.

Scaffold students by asking them to record at least five facts about a star as dot point notes, before beginning to communicate this understanding to an audience.

Step 4.

Students can then create a comic strip explaining their understanding. There are examples of these on the presentation slides.

A comic strip is a good presentation method because it allows for the explanation of how stars formed to be progressive from one step to the next. Students might like to go all the way to the Big Bang to explain how the elements of stars were first created.

Alternatively, students might like to create a PowerPoint, podcast, poster, or traditional explanatory piece of writing.

Provisions for Learning Extension: Ask students to research two different types of stars and compare and contrast them using a Venn diagram.

Reflection

Encourage some students to share their comic strips with the whole class.

Exit Ticket - Before moving to their next class or an outside break, students purchase their 'exit' with a 'ticket' that demonstrates their understanding of the learning undertaken in this lesson.

You can have students write their responses on a sticky note along with their name, or you can have them line up and verbally communicate their understanding to you at the door as they leave.

Ask students to name one of the four things that the Big Bang created in the universe or one fact about a star that they learnt today.

Threshold crossed

After the Big Bang, hydrogen and helium (matter) were floating around the universe.

There was also gravity.

These were perfect Goldilocks Conditions for something to happen. First, gravity pulled matter together. Inside these fusions, it was more than 10 million degrees Celsius.

Suddenly, stars lit up. Galaxies, clusters, and superclusters were formed.

The universe had changed once again.

Stick your Threshold 2 Card up around the classroom somewhere as an indicator of a threshold being crossed!

Where to next?

Students' learning throughout Big History is leading them towards designing future cities. As Big Historians, we are travelling through 13.82 billion years of our universe’s history to find solutions to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal #11: to make cities inclusive, safe and resilient.

Remind students that the Sustainable Development Goals are the world’s to-do list for people and the planet. We all need to be a part of the process. 193 nations came together and agreed on one common list for all of us that helps make the planet and our communities stronger.

What will be our third touchdown threshold in our next lesson? We continue to investigate the emergence of new, heavier elements in our universe.

Big History Passport check-in

After this lesson, students should have added to their Big History Passport:

Comic - How stars are formed
Student Worksheet - Research on how stars are formed
Threshold 2 Reflection Page.

Differentiated learning

Extension - Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples noticed that particular stars or patterns are seen during certain times of the year. They used this information to guide them through the seasons, to understand when to gather resources and when to care for the land in a particular way. Some Indigenous Australian peoples use the sky as a calendar to tell them when it's time to move to a new place and a new food supply. For example, the Boorong people in Victoria know that when the "Mallee-fowl" constellation (Lyra) disappears in October, to "sit with the Sun", it's time to start gathering her eggs on Earth. Other groups know that when Orion first appears in the sky, the Dingo puppies are about to be born.

Watch:

Aboriginal Astronomy - Behind the News (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv8hKMj6ikA)

And check out these resources for more information:

Big History - How Are Stars Formed?

Go to

Summary

Lesson guides and printables

In this lesson