Solar System


Lesson Plan of Stars, Galaxies, Milky Way & Black Holes

General Science Grade VII

Students’ Learning Outcomes

·         Investigate the space.
·         Describe the terms star, galaxy, Milky Way.
·         Explain the types of galaxies.
·         Describe a star using properties such as:

Information for Teacher

·         A star is a ball of tremendously hot gas, which produces heat and light from nuclear reactions.
·         Stars are formed in huge clouds of dust called nebulae.
·         Stars appear brighter if they radiate more energy.
·         Color of stars varies from blue to red. It depends on its temperature.

Galaxies:

·         Stars are grouped together in vast collections called galaxies.
·         Each galaxy contains billions of stars.
·         Our solar system forms a tiny part of a galaxy called the Milky Way.
·         
·         The types of galaxies can be described into four shapes as:
                                                     I.            Spiral
                                                   II.            Barred spiral
                                                 III.            Elliptical
                                                IV.            Irregular
·         All the stars that can be seen on the night sky are part of Milky Way.
·         Make the chart related to galaxy information.
·         The chart contains the following information;

Our galaxy: the Milky Way

·         It is a collection of about 100000million stars.
·         Our sun is just one of them, placed somewhere near the edge, in a spiral arm.
·         The galaxy is huge. It takes 8 minutes for light to travel from the sun to earth: 4 years for light to travel from the nearest star: but 10000 years for light to travel across our galaxy!
·         The Milky Way contains 100 to 200 billion stars.

Material / Resources

Chart of Milky Way and galaxy, computer work sheets for writing observation.

Worm up activity

·         Ask the students one day earlier to start this lesson, to observe the stars in the night stars in the sky.
·         Ask some questions before the start of lesson.
1)      How many stars you observe at night sky?
(Expected response: A large number of stars)
2)      Can you tell the name of closet star to us?
(Expected response: The Sun)
3)      What name is given to a group of stars?
(Expected response: Galaxy)
4)      In which galaxy we live?
(Expected response: Milky Way)

Development

Activity 1

·         Divide the students in three groups.
·         Provide them some material related with the S L O s and ask to collect the information about stars, galaxies and Milky Way.
·         After 15 minutes ask each group to demonstrate their working in the class.

Sum up / Conclusion

·         Stars are grouped together called galaxy.
·         Each galaxy contains billions of stars.
·         Our solar system forms a tiny part of a galaxy called Milky Way.
·         Most astronomers believe that the Milky Way is spiral galaxy.
·         The specific patterns of bright stars in the sky are called constellations.
·         These are visible.
·         Stars are classified by their color and brightness.

Assessment

·         Ask the following questions to assess the students:
Q1. Differentiate between star and galaxy?
      (Expected response: Galaxy in a group of stars)
Q2. What’s the name of our galaxy?”
       (Expected response: Milky Way)

Follow up

·         Homework: Distribute this worksheet to the students as homework.
Fill the blank space using following words:
Meteorites, Galaxy, Supernova, Big bang constellation moon, Comet Solar System
i)                     A rocky object orbiting a planet ________.
ii)                   The Sun, its planets and other objects in orbit __________.
iii)                 A small rocky object which collides with a planet and may be fragment from an asteroid __________.
iv)                 A clumps of ice, gas and dust and usually in a highly elliptical orbit around the Sun __________
v)                  A huge group of millions of stars _______.
vi)                 A gigantic explosion that occurs ______.
·         Answer the following questions:
 Q1. What causes stars to look bright or dim?
  (Expected response: The closer a star is to us, the brighter it wills appear. How bright/dim a star appears in the night sky depends on its size and how far away from us it is.
Q2. What is the shape of the Milky Way galaxy?
 (Expected response: The Milky Way consists of a bar-shaped core region surrounded by a disk of gas, dust and stars.        
Q3. What affects the apparent lightness of a star?
(Expected response: he brightness of a star depends on its composition and how far it is from the planet)

 

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