SC.8.E.5.5

In this lesson students will categorize a list of stars based on absolute brightness, size, and temperature. Students will analyze astronomical data presented in charts and plot their data on a special graph called a Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram (H-R Diagram). Using this diagram, they must determine the proper classification of individual stars. Using their data analysis, students completing this lesson will develop two short essay responses to a professional client indicating which stars are Main Sequence Stars and which ones are White Dwarfs, Giants, or Supergiants.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will draw constellations on their desktops with dry erase crayons. They will identify the stars' absolute magnitudes for the brightest stars in the constellation. Students will explore the meaning of absolute magnitude vs. apparent magnitude in a 3D environment. Students will write explanations for how the stars in a constellation can appear to be of similar magnitude and similar distances away from the observer even if their true data shows they are very different.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students plot temperature and luminosity data from a provided star table to create a scatter plot. They will analyze the data to sequence the colors of stars from hottest to coolest and to describe the relationship between temperature and luminosity. This lesson does not address differentiation between absolute and apparent magnitude.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this engaging lesson, students will investigate and explore the effects of temperature, size, and magnitude on the luminosity and life span of stars using glow sticks. This lesson includes a guided inquiry lab and website exploration.

Type: Lesson Plan

The students will learn about different stars. They will categorize them according to their temperature, color and mass. They will also use their imagination to create a star poster project and present their creation. They will name their new star and include its mass, color and temperature. They will present it through a report, song or poem in a poster form. They may work alone or in pairs (teacher's choice).

Type: Lesson Plan

Identify characteristics of stars.

Type: Lesson Plan

Discover how scientists classify stars according to their brightness, temperature, color, and size in this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Scientists may have found a star created from the same nebula that produced our sun. The spectrograph composition data, the motion of the star through the Milky Way, and its age all suggest that it is a "sibling" to our Sun.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This text examines how humans and all things around us are made of elements created in stars. The article references fusion, the powerful collision of enormous stars, and the intense explosion of supernovas. All of this is tied to the creation of heavier elements that hurtle through space, to be reassembled as distant solar systems.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Scientists have been observing a supernova that first appeared in 1987. Specifically, they have measured a large amount of star dust that formed as a result of the supernova. This dust is thought to be the material that forms new stars and studying it may tell scientists something about how stars formed early in the history of the universe.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article discusses how stars are classified, especially the different types of dwarf stars. It is still under debate how some star-like objects, like brown dwarfs, should be classified. The text also describes the life cycle of stars, explaining how they change in size and mass over time and eventually expand and die.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This text briefly describes how astronomers have measured and quantified the apparent brightness and magnitude of stars as astrophysics has evolved over time. This article also discusses the limitations of absolute magnitude in terms of the technology tools utilized.

Type: Text Resource

This interactive lab explores the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram in areas of spectrum, classification, luminosity, and temperature. The simulator plots stars according to the areas you chose to explore.

Type: Virtual Manipulative

This is a great resource with online lessons providing inquiry as you learn about the life cycle of the star as well as the usages of the H-R diagram. The images provide a conceptual understanding of the life cycle of the star and how it applies to the H-R diagram. You will enjoy the interactive lab tools as well as the online formative assessment questions.

Type: Virtual Manipulative