The Life of Stars


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.

 

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