Thresholds 1–4 Graphic Transcript
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 2.1ACTIVITY THRESHOLDS 1–4 GRAPHIC TRANSCRIPT1Unless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Credit: “Thresholds 1–4 Graphic Transcript”, OER Project, https://www.oerproject.com/PurposeImprove your listening skills while also learning about Big History’s first four thresholds of increasing complexity.Process1.As you listen to the audio, fill in the missing information in the graphic transcript.Thresholds 1–4Today, we’re going to take a journey through time to explore how our Universe and planet Earth came to be. It’s a story that begins billions of years ago with an incredible event called the Big Bang.Threshold 1: ____________________________Imagine a Universe so small it could fit in the palm of your hand. Then, _______________________ ago, something amazing happened: the Big Bang! Scientists are still trying to understand exactly what caused it, but it was like a giant explosion that created everything we know: _______________, _____________, _____________, and ____________. It’s hard to wrap our heads around, but in the blink of an eye, the Universe went from tiny to enormous!
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 2.1ACTIVITY THRESHOLDS 1–4 GRAPHIC TRANSCRIPT2Threshold 2: ____________________________At first, the Universe was incredibly ______________. It was just a vast, empty space filled with simple atomslike _______________ and ______________. But _______________, the force that pulls things together, started to work its magic. Over millions of years, these atoms clumped together into massive clouds. As the clouds grew bigger, the atoms squeezed closer and closer, increasing the __________________ of the cloud. Eventually, the cloud got so hot that atoms fused, forming the very first ______________! Imagine a dark room suddenly bursting with light—that's what it was like when the stars were born! These stars were like giant furnaces, burning brightly and releasing enormous amounts of __________________ into space for billions of years.Threshold 3: ______________________________Stars aren’t just beautiful; they’re also incredible ______________ factories! The ___________________ and ________________ deep inside stars created the perfect conditions for new chemical elements to form. Think of it like baking a cake: You mix simple ingredients like flour and sugar, and with heat, they transform into something new and delicious. In stars, the “ingredients” were simple _______________, and the “heat” in the star’s core was incredibly intense. These new elements—like carbon, oxygen, andiron—are the building blocks of everything around us, including you and me! But how did these elements get out of the stars? Well, all stars die at some point and release these elements. But some stars end their lives in huge explosions called ____________________. These explosions are so powerful that they scatter the newly formed elements throughout the Universe—kind of like cosmic confetti exploding into space. Sometimes otherdying stars like ____________________,collide and create even heavier elements—the ones toward the bottom of the periodic table—like gold and platinum!
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 2.1ACTIVITY THRESHOLDS 1–4 GRAPHIC TRANSCRIPT3Threshold 4: ______________________________Now, imagine a giant cloud of _____________ and ____________, enriched with these newly formed elements, floating in space. _______________, our trustedfriend, pulled this cloud together, causing it to spin and collapse like someone tossing pizza dough in the air. As the cloud collapsed, it got hotter and denser, eventually forming our _____________ at the center. Around the Sun, smaller clumps of dust and gas came together, forming the _________________, including our very own Earth! This all happened about __________________ years ago.ConclusionFrom a tiny point in the ______________ to the formation of ____________, our Universe has gone through incredible changes, increasing in _______________ with every step. Gravity, stars, and even supernovas have all played crucial roles in creating the world we know. It’s an amazing story that reminds us that we are all connected to the vastness of the Universe, made from the very elements forged in the ________________ billions of years ago.2.In the blank boxes in the graphic transcript above, draw an illustration for each threshold.3.Now, go back and reread the transcript you just completed to practice some note-taking skills.•Circle three words that are new to you. (If you already know all the words, pick three that you don’t use often.) Write them down below, and then look up their definitions.Words that are new to meDefinition
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 2.1ACTIVITY THRESHOLDS 1–4 GRAPHIC TRANSCRIPT44.Use the transcript to find the answers to the following questions. Put a star ()) next to where you find the answer in the transcript:•What force played a role in bringing together the clouds of dust to create stars and, later, planets?•When a star dies in a huge explosion, what is it called?•What happened around 4.5 billion years ago?5.Underline or highlight two sentences that you found interesting or surprising. For each sentence, explain why you found it interesting or surprising.One of the sentences I underlined interested/surprised me because ...The other sentence I underlined interested or surprised me because ...