Dark Energy Big Bang

The Universe

​

Lesson 4.4.4

balloon
marker
Science 6 Notebook

Materials

• analyze the evidence for an expanding universe and evaluate its implications for understanding cosmology

• evaluate evidence related to the universe's formation, and construct an argument for how this evidence supports the Big Bang Theory

• formulate hypotheses about the roles of dark matter and dark energy in the universe

What will we learn...

Lesson Objectives

​the commonly accepted scientific theory for how the universe formed

Big Bang Theory

​theoretical form of energy that cannot be detected

Dark Energy

matter that does not emit light

dark matter

all of matter and space

​​Universe

Drag and Drop

Let's review some previous vocab

The smallest unit of an element is an ​

Placeholder

A ​

Placeholder

is cloud of gas and dust in space. The ability to do work or cause change is ​

Placeholder

Anything that takes up space and has mass is considered​

Placeholder

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

atom

nebula

energy

matter

Experiment Time!

What you will need

• Balloon

• Marker

Before inflating the balloon, use a marker to draw several small dots on its surface.

These dots represent galaxies.

​Step 1

Next, slowly blow up the balloon and observe what happens to the dots.

​Step 2

Open Ended

What do you observe about the dots as you inflate the balloon?

You can begin your response with:

When I inflate the balloon, I notice . . .

• As the balloon inflated you probably noticed that the dots moved away from each other, but their size stayed the same.

• Inflating the balloon models our expanding universe.

• The balloon surface is space and the dots are galaxies that move away from each other.

​Inflating the Balloon

• Edwin Hubble was one of the first to observe distant galaxies in te 20th century.

• In his observations

  • galaxies are a vast collection of millions or billions of stars.

  • found some distances to many galaxies.

• Today scientists believe the universe contains a hundred billion galaxies.

• Created Hubble's Law which states, the further away a galaxy is , the faster it is moving away. Or that the universe is expanding.

• Let's learn more about the universe.

Universe History

Thoughts?

• What do you think about how big the universe is?

• Some space travel tips

  • If you could travel at the speed of light it would take you 2 seconds to travel from the Earth to the Moon.

  • If you could travel at the speed of light it would take you 100,000 years to reach the edge of the Milky Way.

  • If you could travel at the speed of light it would take you 13 billion years to travel to the known edge of the universe.

• Theory of how the universe was formed.

• About 13.7 billion years ago, the universe was compressed into a tiny volume.

• An enormous explosion caused it to expand rapidly.

• Let's look at a timeline of events

​

Big Bang Theory

​The universe was very hot and dense. It then expanded and became less dense.

Beginning

​Hydrogen was create from protons, electrons, and neutrons forming.

First Atoms

​Nuclear fusion produced helium atoms

Nuclear Fusion

​Dense regions of matter formed gas clouds, stars, galaxies, etc.

Development

​His observations of galaxies moving away and expanding suggests that it originated at a single point.

Edwin Hubble

​Background radiation has been observed throughout the universe, which provides evidence of its hot and dense origin.

Background Radiation

​Large amounts of elements like hydrogen and helium support the theory that they were formed early after the Big Bang.

Light Elements

​Evidence to Support the Theory

Open Ended

Thoughts?

Do you think all of the evidence and information collected shows how the universe was created?

Poll

The universe has been expanding since the Big Bang

• true

• false

• Invisible component of space.

• Does not emit, absorb, or reflect light.

• Only detectable through gravitational effects.

• Shown through the uniform rotation speed of galaxies

• Believed to be a mix of ordinary matter and unknown particles.

​

Dark Matter

• Invisible component of space.

• Believed to be accelerating the universe's expansion.

• More mysterious than dark matter.

• Majority of the energy in space is dark energy according to astronomers.

​

Dark Energy

Thoughts?

What are your thoughts/opinion on dark matter and energy?

Multiple Choice

What evidence supports the existence of dark matter?

• the temperature of black holes

• the color of stars

  
  

• the rotation speed of galaxies

  
  

• the brightness of galaxies

  
  

Let's Review

What did we learn today...

• the universe contains all matter, energy, space, and time;

• observations show that galaxies are moving apart, indicating that the universe is expanding;

• the Big Bang Theory suggests the universe formed from an enormous explosion; and

• recent evidence reveals the existence of dark matter and dark energy.

Open Ended

Using your notes, evaluate the claim that the universe was formed during an event known as the Big Bang. Be sure to provide at least two supporting pieces of evidence, and explain the reasoning for how this evidence supports the claim.

If you want to know what scientists think will happen to the universe in the future, check out the link on the next slide.

Edio | Commonwealth Charter Academy

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