The Sun and Us

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 21.04.06

  1. Unit Guide
  1. The Marginalization of Science and Social Studies in the Classroom
  2. STEM in the Classroom
  3. Introduction & Demographics
  4. Overview
  5. Unit Content, Structure and Components
  6. The Life and Characteristics of a Star
  7. Star Classification
  8. Why are Stars important?
  9. Culminating Unit Project
  10. Teaching Strategies
  11. Classroom Activities
  12. Teacher and Student Resources
  13. Extensions
  14. Conclusion
  15. Annotated Bibliography
  16. Appendix on Implementing District Standards
  17. Endnotes

Stardust Students-Our Class Cosmos of the Stars

Taryn Coullier

Published September 2021

Tools for this Unit:

Guide Entry to 21.04.06

The astronomer Carl Sagan stated, “The cosmos is within us; we are made of star stuff; we are a way for the universe to know itself”.  This belief, that the Universe is within us and that we are a part of it and also its future, is an ideal that we can give our students.  Within this four-week unit, students will learn about the life and characteristics of a star.  Students will learn about how stars are categorized by color, temperature, visibility, distance, mass, luminosity, apparent brightness and sounds.  Students will catalog information about stars into an interactive journal and into a concept map about stars.  The knowledge of the components of a star, will then be used to form a Class Cosmos, where students will create their own Star. They will classify the different characteristics of their star in an official chart, as well as chart the star on an astronomical diagram, and then create a model.  The synthetic star that the students create will also be cataloged in their interactive journals.  Students will complete a display board that shows the characteristics of their star.  These stars will be put together into a whole class display and presentation. 

(Developed for Science, grade 4; recommended for Astronomy, grades 9-12, and Science, grades K-8)

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