Lesson Plan of The Life of Stars (The birth & death of our sun)
General science Grade VII
Students’ Learning Outcomes
· Explain the birth and death of our sun.
· Explain the term black hole.
· Describe the formation of black holes.
Information for Teacher
· Stars are formed in huge clouds of dust and swirling gases in space.
· A star is created when gases are pulled together by gravity.
· Whenever the burning gases in the stars run out they die.
· When big stars die, they form red super giants, and then explode into a supernova.
· However, when they collapse, they virtually vanish from the universe.
· They may become what are called black holes, bottomless pits from which nothing escapes.
· A black hole is so heavy and dense that its gravity sucks everything inside it, even light.
· Black holes can’t be seen.
· Black holes some scientists think in the middle of our galaxy lies an enormous black hole, surrounded by a squeezed mass of ancient red dust.
· Ask star dies its size swells up and turns red.
· At this stage it is called a red giant.
· Slowly it puffs its out layers of gas space, leaving behind a small, almost dead star called a white dwarf.
Material / Resources
Charts of the Sun and stars, computer work sheets for writing observation
Worm up activity
· Ask the following questions:
Q1. Where are the stars?
(Expected response: The stars are in the sky)
Q2. Why can’t you see stars during the day?
(Expected response: They have dimmer light as compared to the day light)
Q3. Do stars move? Yes/no
(Expected response: Stars don’t move)
· After these questions make the above flow chart on the board to understand the complete life cycle of a star.
Development
Sum up / Conclusion
· Explain the whole life & death of sun by sketching a flow chart.
Assessment
Q1. Describe the stage how black hole is formed?
(Expected response: Drawing of flow chart)
Q2. What type of star is the Sun?
(Expected response: Hot & Luminous)
Q3. Describe the different stages of life of stars?
(Expected response: Gases and dust in the space swirl around the clouds collapse
A hot core forms a new star born. )Follow up
Project: Find the history of another larger star like “blue giant”.
· To find out more about stars and nebula and paste them in your notebooks.
