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)
