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Life of a Star
Lesson development
InstructIonal objectIves
Grades 6-8
Students will
• compare various life cycles;
• interpret charts and diagrams depicting the life cycle of stars;
• use a variety of Internet sources to research stages of a Sun-like star’s life cycle;
• develop PowerPoint presentations or Web pages to visualize the stages of a star’s life cycle;
Galaxy NGC 4013 (Image: NASA)
• compare the life cycle of a Sun-like star to the life cycle of a massive star; and
• gather and share data about stars with people around the world.
background
Stars are born in dark, cold nurseries filled with dust and gas. Gravity’s pull clumps this dust and gas
together forming protostars. As protostars contract, their matter collides, heats up and begins to glow.
Eventually, the protostar’s central core is hot enough to begin hydrogen fusion. The protostar will grow
and change into a main-sequence star.
Orion Nebula (Image: NASA)
The Sun is a middle-aged main-sequence star. For the past 4.6 billion years it has been relatively
stable and should continue to be for another 5 billion years. Old age for the Sun will be more
spectacular than middle age. It is expected to expand, becoming a red Giant, perhaps twice during
its later years.These showy final years will lead to a much quieter death. The Sun will shed its outer
layers, fade and become a planetary nebula. All that will be left will be an extremely hot core that will
slowly cool and eventually become a white dwarf.
A star’s cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth in the universe is never-ending, unfolding in millions
and billions of years. Changes in individual stars cannot be observed. But, by observing many star
clusters at various stages, astronomers have pieced together what they believe to be a star’s entire
life cycle. This process has been aided by the launch of space observatories. In particular, since
the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990, NASA has been able to peer deeper and deeper
into the universe. The results have produced spectacular images and snapshots of stars in every
stage of stellar evolution.
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Life of a Star
Life of a Star
Lesson development (continued)
ENGAGE
Galaxy NGC 4013 (Image: NASA)
Grades 6-8
Use the images of Chimchar and the Sun to begin a discussion of life cycles
with your students (TEACHER RESOURCE). These questions may help
guide your discussion:
• In the Pokémon world, how might Chimchar change in appearance and
capabilities?
• UsethePokédex,foundattheofficialPokémonWebsite,
www.Pokemon.com, to compare Chimchar to Monferno and Infernape.
• In our world, where would you classify our Sun in its life cycle?
• Whatcriteriadidyouuseforthisclassification?
• HowmighttheSunchange?Whatcausesthesechanges?
EXPLORE
The Sun
A. Agree/Disagree
Pre-assess your students’ prior knowledge of stars and the Sun with
this “agree/disagree” activity.
Orion Nebula (Image: NASA)
Post “I agree” and “I disagree” signs on opposite walls in the classroom. For each
statement below, ask students to walk to the sign that represents whether they “agree” or
“disagree” with the statement. If they are unsure, ask students to stand in the middle of the
Chimchar
room. In their groups, ask students to discuss their ideas. Encourage all groups to share
their ideas.
• The Sun is a star.
• All stars are exactly the same.
• Stars in a constellation are close to each other.
• Stars live forever.
• All stars will end their lives the same way – as supernovae.
ShortexplanationsforeachstatementcanbefoundattheAmazingSpaceWebsite,
http:// amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/myths/stars.php.p=Teaching+tools%40%2Ceds%2
Ctools%2C%3EStellar+evolution%40%2Ceds%2Ctools%2Ctopic%2Cstars.php%3EOverview%
3A+Star+myths%40%2Ceds%2Coverviews%2Cmyths%2Cstars.php&a=%2Ceds
B. Life Cycle of the Sun
1. Use these questions to help your
students analyze the chart of the
Sun’s life cycle
(TEACHER RESOURCE).
• How long is the Sun’s life cycle?
Life Cycle of the Sun
• WhereistheSuninitslifecycle?
• WhatstageswilltheSuntravelthrough,fromthepointmarked“Now”toitsdeath?
2.Showyourstudentsthedrawingyoufindathttp://aspire.cosmic-ray.org/labs/star_life/starlife_
main.html that compares human and star life cycles.
3. Group your students into teams of three.
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Life of a Star
Life of a Star
Lesson development (continued)
Grades 6-8
Galaxy NGC 4013 (Image: NASA)
4. Randomly assign each member of the team Task Card 1, Task Card 2 or
Task Card 3 (STUDENT RESOURCE). Each Task Card identifies which part of
the Sun’s life cycle the student will research and lists appropriate Websites for research. The
Website links are interactive. If possible, allow students to work from the PDF file on a computer
that has Internet access.
5. Re-organize students so that the students working on similar sections of the
life cycle may work together. For example, arrange the room and materials so
that everyone working on the “birth of a star” may share materials and work collaboratively.
6. Use these general questions to help guide your students’ research:
• What happens during this stage?
• What’s the average time a star is in this stage?
• How does the star change during this stage?
• What causes this change?
7. Once students have completed their research, pull them back into
their original teams to share what they’ve learned.
eXPlaIn
Orion Nebula (Image: NASA)
A. This poster depicts the “Life Cycles of Stars” and can be found at
NASA’s Imagine the Universe Website:
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/teachers/lifecycles/stars.html
The Life Cycle of Stars
It can be printed or viewed from the Website. Use this poster to help students piece together their
research about the life cycle of a Sun-like star.
B. Many sites include visual representations of a star’s life cycle. Ask your students to use these sites
to help review what they’ve learned about the life cycle of our Sun.
• The Sky: Life Cycle of a Star
http://www.seasky.org/cosmic/sky7a01.html
• Where Do Stars Come From? And Where Do They Go?
http://teachspacescience.org/graphics/pdf/10000508.pdf
• Small Star Sequence
http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/LifeCycle/starsavgstar.html
elaborate
There are many interesting ways for your students to showcase the life cycle of our Sun using
technology. They should work as a team to pull their individual research into one story using the
information and images they’ve discovered.
Students may:
• create a PowerPoint presentation
• create a Web Page
Before you begin, you may want your students to use a storyboard to help them plan and organize
their projects. One example of a storyboard can be found at
http://nortellearnit.org/resources/Handouts/
It may also be helpful for your students to review these Nortel LearniT video tutorials for help in
creating their PowerPoint presentations and Web pages. They can be found at
http://nortellearnit.org/technology/PowerPoint_Presentations/ and
http://nortellearnit.org/technology/Webpage_Creation/
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Life of a Star
Life of a Star
Lesson development (continued)
YourstudentsmaywanttouseimagesfoundduringtheirreviewofWebsitesin
theEXPLOREandEXPLAINsectionsofthislesson.Theycaneitherdownload
thosepicturestotheharddrive,orsavetheURLasa“Favorite”intheWebbrowser.
Grades 6-8
Encourage your students to put a descriptive title screen, credits and references at the end of
the project.
Galaxy NGC 4013 (Image: NASA)
Orion Nebula (Image: NASA)
Please remind students to use only images that they have permission to include. Review
copyrightandcopywrongsbywatchingtheNortelLearniTvideotutorialat
http://nortellearnit.org/technology/Digital_Ethics/
StudentsmaywanttocreateananimationorWebquesttodemonstratetheirunderstanding
of the life cycle of a star. Examples of each are below:
• Animations
- Life of the Sun
http://janus.astro.umd.edu/astro/stars/SunsLife.html
- Canadian Space Agency’s Applet: The Life Cycle of a Star
http://www.ioncmaste.ca/homepage/resources/web_resources/CSA_Astro9/files/multi
media/unit2/star_lifecycle/star_lifecycle.html
• WebQuest
- Life Cycle of Stars
http://www.can-do.com/uci/ssi2003/starlife.html
EVALUATE
BasedupontheimageoftheOrionNebula
(TEACHER RESOURCE), ask your students these questions:
• WhatstageoflifehasthisHubbletelescopeimagecaptured?
• Whatstageswouldyouexpecttoseefollowingthisstepina
star’s life cycle?
Thisimage,andothers,canbefoundinaWashingtonPost
article, The Hubble Cosmos Postcards from the Edge:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/galleries/hubble/3.htm.
Several of these images at this site may be used to help evaluate your students’
understanding of the life cycle of stars.
OrionNebula
UseNASA’sImaginetheUniversemazetocheckyourstudents’understandingofstarsand
their life cycle. http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/teachers/lifecycles/SC_main_p15.html
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Life of a Star
Life of a Star
Lesson development (continued)
To evaluate the PowerPoint presentation and Web pages, use these rubrics
Grades 6-8
found at the Nortel LearniT site:
• PowerPoint Presentations
http://nortelearnit.org/resources/Handouts/
• Web pages (Webpage Creation and Website Project)
http://nortellearnit.org/resources/Handouts/
Galaxy NGC 4013 (Image: NASA)
eXtend
These activities may be used to extend or continue your students’ exploration.
A. EXPERT INTERVIEWS -- WHAT DO YOU WONDER NOW?
What are your students wondering now that they’ve learned more about the
life cycle of stars? Generate a list of questions that your students might ask
“the experts” from NASA, the National Institute of Aerospace and research
universities. Submit this list following the link on this Website. Several
Orion Nebula (Image: NASA)
questions from all submitted will be used in video interviews with “experts”
and posted to this site.
B. Explore these Websites to compare the life cycle of Sun-like stars to the life
cycle of massive stars.
• NASA’s Imagine the Universe: Supernovae
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/supernovae.htm
• NASA’s StarChild Website
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/universe_level2/stars.html
C. Find out more about attributes of individual stars by exploring these Websites.
• Windows to the Universe: All Stars Line Up
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/the_universe/AllStarTop.html&fr=t
• Windows to the Universe: ExploraTour: A Peek Into the Lives of Stars
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/cool_stuff/tourstars_1.html
• Amazing Space: Star Light, Star Bright
http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations/light/
D. Join others across the world to see if people everywhere see the same
number of stars in the night sky. The Student Observation Network: Star
Count Project encourages students and adults to count the number of stars
viewed each night. This data is shared with others around the world.
Everything you need to know to run this challenge is found at the Star Count
Website: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/starcount/home/index.html
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Life of a Star
Life of a Star
Teacher resource
Grades 6-8
Galaxy NGC 4013 (Image: NASA)
Orion Nebula (Image: NASA)
Chimchar
Image: NASA
The SUN (For a QuickTime movie)
http://www.nasa.gov/mov/187931main_Fringe081807_512FD.mov
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Life of a Star
Life of a Star
Teacher resource
Grades 6-8
Galaxy NGC 4013 (Image: NASA)
Orion Nebula (Image: NASA)
Illustration:Tablizer; Science Museum of Minnesota
Life Cycle of the Sun
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Life of a Star
Life of a Star
student resource
Grades 6-8
Galaxy NGC 4013 (Image: NASA)
task card 1:
BIrTH OF a sUN-LIKe sTar
You will become an expert on the birth of a Sun-like star.
During your research, be sure to look for more information about these topics:
• Gas clouds
• Protostars
These Websites will help with your research:
• HubbleSite
Orion Nebula (Image: NASA)
http://hubblesite.org/hubble_discoveries/hstexhibit/stars/starbirth.shtml
• NASA’s Imagine the Universe
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/teachers/lifecycles/LC_main_p1.html
Section I: Star Birth
• The Birth of Stars
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/stars/lifecycle/starbirth.shtml
• The Once and Future Sun
http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Lectures/vistas97.html
• The Life and Death of Stars
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_uni/uni_101stars.html
• The Life Cycle of a Sun-Like Star
http://wind.caspercollege.edu/~marquard/astronomy/sunlike.htm
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Life of a Star
Life of a Star
student resource
Grades 6-8
Galaxy NGC 4013 (Image: NASA)
task card 2:
MId-LIFe OF a sUN-LIKe sTar
You will become an expert on the mid-life of a Sun-like star.
During your research, be sure to look for more information about these topics:
• Today’s Sun
• Red Giant
These Websites will help with your research:
Orion Nebula (Image: NASA)
• NASA’s Imagine the Universe
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/teachers/lifecycles/LC_main_p1.html
Section I: Star Birth and Life and Section II: Beginning of the End
• NASA’s StarChild Website: The Sun
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level2/sun.html
• NASA’s STEREO Mission Website: The Sun in 3D
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stereo/main/index.html
• The Once and Future Sun
http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Lectures/vistas97.html
• The Life and Death of Stars
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_uni/uni_101stars.html
• The Life Cycle of a Sun-Like Star
http://wind.caspercollege.edu/~marquard/astronomy/sunlike.htm
• StarDate Online: Exploding Stars
http://stardate.org/resources/btss/stars/exploding_stars.php
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Life of a Star
Life of a Star
student resource
Grades 6-8
Galaxy NGC 4013 (Image: NASA)
task card 3:
OLd aGe TO THe deaTH OF a sUN-LIKe sTar
You will become an expert on the old age to the death of a Sun-like star.
During your research, be sure to look for more information about these topics:
• Red Giants
• Planetary Nebula
• White Dwarfs
Orion Nebula (Image: NASA)
These Websites will help with your research:
• HubbleSite
http://hubblesite.org/hubble_discoveries/hstexhibit/stars/stardeath.shtml
• NASA’s Imagine the Universe
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/teachers/lifecycles/LC_main_p1.html
Section III: The End
• The Death of Stars
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/stars/lifecycle/stardeath.shtml
• Amazing Space
http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/tales/glorious_end.php.p=Teaching+tools%40
%2Ceds%2Ctools%2C%3EScience+content+reading%40%2Ceds%2Ctools%2Ctype%
2Creading.php%3EOverview%3A+End+of+stellar+life+story%40%2Ceds%2Coverview
s%2Ctales%2Cglorious_end.php%3ETales+of%3A+End+of+stellar+life%40%2Cresour
ces%2Ctales%2Cglorious_end.php&a=%2Ceds
• The Once and Future Sun
http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Lectures/vistas97.html
• The Life and Death of Stars
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_uni/uni_101stars.html
• The Life Cycle of a Sun-Like Star
http://wind.caspercollege.edu/~marquard/astronomy/sunlike.htm
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Life of a Star
0
Life of a Star
Teacher resource
Grades 6-8
Galaxy NGC 4013 (Image: NASA)
Orion Nebula (Image: NASA)
Image: Rice University and NASA
orIon nebula
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Life of a Star