Unit D: The Universe

The Universe

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​The Scale of the Universe

​This year the smallest thing we studied was the atom and now we will be studying some of the largest parts of the universe. 

1. To see how everything connects and compares, explore the simulation and take time to click and read some of the areas you are interested in. 

2. When ready, rank these from smallest to biggest. You can also add screenshots if you want to help you remember what they are.

​Challenge: Find an example of moons bigger than some planets: ______________

Challenge: Find an example of a star that is smaller than some planets: _________

Drag and Drop

​

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< ​ Proton < ​

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< ​ DNA Molecule < ​ Moon < ​

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< Sun < ​

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< Galaxy < ​

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Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

Electron

Atom

Cluster

Earth

Nebula

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Scavenger Hunt

Explore our solar system or other stars.

Part 1: Find 1 planet, 1 moon and 1 star that you find most interesting. Once you find each one, go to Google, YouTube or use AI to learn as much as you like about each. Add as much space as needed:

Multiple Choice

How far away is the sun in km?

• 915 billion

• 146 million

• 300,000

• 51 million

• 46,000

Multiple Choice

What is the hottest planet?

• Venus

• Mars

• Mercury

• Sun

Multiple Choice

Which planet has the most volcanoes?

• Venus

• Mars

• Mercury

• Earth

• Saturn

Multiple Choice

Name all the planets humans have walked on

• Earth

• Mars

• Venus

• Mercury

• Moon

Multiple Choice

What does a Mars rover do?

• Plays fetch with aliens.

• Explores the surface of Mars by driving on it.

• Studies Mars from orbit.

• A chocolate bar eaten by astronauts.

Multiple Select

Which are moons of Mars?

• Phobos

• Deiomos

• Io

• Titan

• Pluto

Multiple Choice

What is Jupiter's "Great Red Spot"

• Volcano

• Wind Storm

• Lake

• Crater

Multiple Select

Name all the planets with rings

• Saturn

• Uranus

• Jupiter

• Neptune

• Venus

Multiple Select

Name all the gas giants.

• Saturn

• Uranus

• Jupiter

• Neptune

• Venus

Multiple Choice

Which is the coldest planet in our solar system?

• Neptune

• Uranus

• Earth

• Pluto

Fill in the Blanks

Multiple Choice

Why isn't Pluto considered a planet any longer?

• It's too large.

• It's too far away from the sun.

• It is actually a moon.

• It's too small

Categorize

Options (15)

Pluto

Ceres

Haumea

Makemake

Eris

Earth

Mars

Mercury

Uranus

Saturn

Neptune

Venus

Jupiter

Put in Blank Column 1.

Put in Blank Column 2.

Sort the dwarf plants from regular planets.

Dwarf Planets

Planets

Blank Column 1

Blank Column 1Put in Blank Column 2

Multiple Choice

How long does it take light to reach Earth from the sun?

• Less than 1 second

• About 8 minutes

• About 1 day

• About 1 year

• About 1 month

Multiple Select

Name Pluto's moons:

• Titan

• Hydra

• Nix

• Charon

• Io

Drag and Drop

The first people to walk on the moon were: ​

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and ​ Buzz ​

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Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

Neil Armstrong

John F. Kennedy

William Shatner

Mae Jemison

Aldrin

Lightyear

Alderaan

​In your table groups, each person picks a different Bill Nye video from the list below. As you watch, each person will create 5 or 6 good multiple choice questions to put into a table group Blooket or Kahoot. Later the class will play each other's games.

​Bill Nye Trivia Games

​Try to Remember All the Planets!

​Come up with your own acronym to help you remember all 8 planets! Let’s see who comes up with the best one.

​In the future, try using strategies like this to memorize!

​The Big Bang

​We have evidence that the universe is expanding over time from one starting point (the big bang). Let’s practice explaining skills (level 7 - 8) by explaining how the Doppler shifts give evidence for the universe expanding using the analogy of the cars.  You can see the subtitle text here to help.

​First 16 min

​Another piece of evidence for the Big Bang is CMBR. Choose either resource below (both cover the same info) and practice writing an explanation of how CMBR gives evidence for the Big Bang.

​Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR)

​OPTION 1: VIDEO

​OPTION 2: WEBSITE

​Stars

​Let’s practice graphing using different types of stars. In this Gizmo, we will categorize the stars according to their luminosity and temperature in an H-R diagram.

H-R Diagram Gizmo | ExploreLearning Gizmos

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Stars

Where did the atoms that make up your body come from...

​First 16 to 30 min

​Use these pages to create a flow chart (again, practicing active note-taking) of the lifecycle of stars. You can double click to edit in Google, or just write the numbers underneath if using other software.

​Lifecycle of Main Sequence Stars

​Stars: True or False

​Use these pages to help figure out these true/false answers. If a statement is false, practice rewriting it to be true.

Multiple Choice

Luminosity is the measure of the total mass given off by a star per second.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Two stars with the same absolute magnitude always have the same brightness in the Earth’s night sky.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Bluish stars are the hottest stars.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Our sun is one of the brightest and hottest stars.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Spectral lines of a star show which elements it is made of.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Most stars are single stars, like the Sun.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Stars can vary in mass from much smaller than the Sun to more than 100 times its mass.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Half of all stars are found on the main sequence of the H-R diagram.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Red stars such as red giants and supergiants are all cooler and less luminous than the Sun.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

The H-R diagram has an x-axis showing lower surface temperatures on the left.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Black holes can form from stars that collapse.

• True

• False

​11. True

​Galaxies

​Use this page to help make a comparison chart. Reorganizing information is a key strategy for note-taking as it is an example of active note-taking (key to success in DP/University). Let’s practice!

​Older than spiral, younger than elliptical.

​little dust

​Dark Matter & Dark Energy

​This year, we studied normal matter (atoms) and energy (the electromagnetic spectrum). But that’s only 5% of what the universe is!

Open Ended

What do you think about it? How does it make you feel?