Stars Form
Teacher Resources
Lesson Guide
Curious about where to find sample answers for claim-testing and causation activities? Check out this guide.
Vocabulary Guide
This lesson introduces vocabulary that students may be unfamiliar with. Use this guide to learn about different strategies, such as teaching vocabulary thematically or having students compile student-driven personal dictionaries.
Driving Question: Why is the formation of stars important?
The early Universe was very dark for its first 200 million years, but then something changed, and new complexity arose. Learn how the first stars formed and how their lives—and deaths—created the ingredients for the next threshold.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe star formation.
- Explain how stars created new complexity in the Universe.
Vocab Terms:
- atom
- complexity
- gravity
- proton
- star
- temperature
It’s time to see how much you know—or think you know—about stars. Test your knowledge of how stars begin and end.
When the Universe first lit up, it crossed the second Big History Threshold. What were the “Goldilocks Conditions” that allowed this to happen?
Sometimes students need a helping hand when you’re using video in the classroom. You can turn on captions, slow down the speed of the video, and have students follow along by reading the video transcript. For more video tips, check out the OER Project Video Guide.
How did tiny atoms come together to light up the Universe? Find the answer to that question and more in this video, slideshow, and activity.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Preview the questions below, and then review the transcript.
While you watch
Look for answers to these questions:
- What were the “Dark Ages” of the Universe?
- What were the Goldilocks Conditions for star formation?
- What happens at 10 million degrees Celsius?
- What is a galaxy?
- What other structures can gravity pull together?
After you watch
Respond to this question: Do you think new stars are forming in the Universe today? Explain your reasoning.
How Stars Form
Did you know that our knowledge of stars is partly thanks to a group of nineteenth-century computers? Now, you might be saying, “but wait, the first computer wasn’t built until 1941,” and you would be correct. Learn more about women “computers” such as Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin and their contributions in this blog post.
Want to explore the contributions of another woman who helped us catalog and classify stars? Check out “Wonder Woman of History: Annie Jump Canon.”
As recently as 100 years ago, scientists didn’t know what stars were made of. One graduate student changed that by using her intuition—and examining the evidence.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the comic, paying attention to things like prominent colors, shapes, and types of text and fonts. How do you know where to start and in which direction to read? What’s in the gutters (the space between panels)? Who or what is the focus of the comic?
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- What does the graphic biography tell you about Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin’s early life?
- What obstacles did Dr. Payne-Gaposchkin face when she decided to become an astronomer?
- What was Dr. Payne-Gaposchkin’s greatest discovery?
- How do the claim testers (authority, logic, evidence, and intuition) impact this scientist’s story?
- How does the page’s design, text, and illustrations contribute to your understanding of this scientist’s story?
After you read
Respond to this question: How does Dr. Payne-Gaposchkin’s story support, extend, or challenge what you’ve learned about claim testing so far in this course?
Allow small groups to read the article together and assign each group member a role: vocabulary master, claim cruncher, evidence gatherer, or content connector. As they read, have each group member take notes for their assigned task. When they’re finished, have students meet up with a different group to share their thoughts and discuss the reading.
Help your students get the most out of the claim-testing activities by breaking the activities up into smaller tasks or completing one portion of the activity as a class. Find more activity tips on page 7 of our Differentiation Guide.
It’s never a bad idea to turn to an authority when you have a question. In this activity and article, you’ll do some thinking on who actually is an authority on star formation.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
- What is the science of optics?
- What contributions did al-Haytham make?
- How did al-Haytham make his discoveries about how light worked?
- Why did Ibn al-Haytham encourage people to question all theories?
After you read
Respond to this question: How does al-Haytham’s story support, extend, or challenge what you’ve learned about the authority claim tester?
Take a look at some amazing student examples of star comics by joining this conversation in the OER Project Teacher Community.
How would you draw star formation in comic form? Use pictures and words to illustrate your star comic.
There are lots of questions we still have about the early Universe. And there are some questions that have been answered in recent years. Grab your headphones and some drawing materials for this audio and activity set.