Introduction activity:
This set of activities focuses on Physics Stage 6 - The Cosmic Engine. In particular, they are designed to introduce you to section 3:
Stars have a limited life span and may explode to form supernovas. This comprises:
Students learn to:
§ define the relationship between the temperature of a body and the dominant wavelength of the radiation emitted from that body
§ identify that the surface temperature of a star is related to its colour
§ describe a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram as the graph of a star’s luminosity against its colour or surface temperature
§ identify energy sources characteristic of each star group, including Main Sequence, red giants, and white dwarfs
Students:
§ define the relationship between the temperature of a body and the dominant wavelength of the radiation emitted from that body
§ identify that the surface temperature of a star is related to its colour
§ describe a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram as the graph of a star’s luminosity against its colour or surface temperature
§ identify energy sources characteristic of each star group, including Main Sequence, red giants, and white dwarfs
This introductory activity will require you to write three things in a class Padlet: something you know about stars, something you want to know, and something you have learned in this lesson after looking through all the activities. This will let you think about what you're interested in learning about stars, what you already know, as well as what your classmates know and are interested in. It's a good way to think about introducing the topic.
This set of activities focuses on Physics Stage 6 - The Cosmic Engine. In particular, they are designed to introduce you to section 3:
Stars have a limited life span and may explode to form supernovas. This comprises:
Students learn to:
§ define the relationship between the temperature of a body and the dominant wavelength of the radiation emitted from that body
§ identify that the surface temperature of a star is related to its colour
§ describe a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram as the graph of a star’s luminosity against its colour or surface temperature
§ identify energy sources characteristic of each star group, including Main Sequence, red giants, and white dwarfs
Students:
§ define the relationship between the temperature of a body and the dominant wavelength of the radiation emitted from that body
§ identify that the surface temperature of a star is related to its colour
§ describe a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram as the graph of a star’s luminosity against its colour or surface temperature
§ identify energy sources characteristic of each star group, including Main Sequence, red giants, and white dwarfs
This introductory activity will require you to write three things in a class Padlet: something you know about stars, something you want to know, and something you have learned in this lesson after looking through all the activities. This will let you think about what you're interested in learning about stars, what you already know, as well as what your classmates know and are interested in. It's a good way to think about introducing the topic.
Rationale:
This Padlet functions both as a way to get students thinking about the topic, and to function as a formative assessment for the teachers. It enables the teacher to get a range of responses from the students to get a sense of where the students are at, as well as allow students to see each other's responses in order to engage with each other's ideas and foster collaborative learning, which is a cornerstone of constructivist learning. The constructivist aspect also relates to the formative assessment as it allows the teacher to identify potential areas of proximal development for both the whole class and individual students.