Astronomy is the branch of science that deals with celestial objects, space, and the physical universe as a whole. This is an interesting unit because there is so much that we can learn from space and that is really exciting. One thing that really interests me about the universe and space in general, is black holes. I was hoping that this next project would allow me to explore that topic more extensively.
As my science teacher explained this project, I learned that we would be split into partners of our choice and then we would be assigned a project based on our top three choices.
The topic choices were:
– Radioactivity and radiation in space
– Possibility of colonizing other planets
– Evidence for the Big Bang
– Components and scale for our universe
– Telescopes and astronomical measurements
My partner and I chose three topics that we thought were the most interesting:
– The Big Bang
– Colonizing other planets
– Star life cycles
My partner for this project was Izzy, and we were assigned the project of star life cycles. This was a very interesting topic because it is such a broad topic. We could literally go in any direction and be able to link it back to star life cycles if we did enough research. Since I am so interested in black holes, Izzy and I agreed to try to find out how black holes relate to the star life cycle.
My class spent an hour coming up with driving questions and project ideas that could relate to their topics. We wrote down our ideas on a sheet of paper and then went around the classroom with sticky notes so that we could write down revision ideas for our classmates. Izzy and I decided to make a driving question that relates the star life cycle to black holes.
Unfortunately, no one gave Izzy and I a critique for our project. Thankfully, our teacher read our project ideas and gave us a critique which was very helpful for our project. He said that we should make sure to talk about the role that gravity plays in the life cycle and in black holes.
It was time to take the next step, and after doing extensive research, we found out that black holes are related to the life cycle of a star because they are formed when a large star implodes at the end of its life. Now that we knew that we could do this project, it was time to figure out how we would communicate our learning to the class. How can we express our project ideas to our class so that they can better understand how black holes are related to the star life cycle?
At first, Izzy and I wanted to make a poster that explained the star cycle and then have a section on black holes in the middle, but we were told that posters weren’t an option for this project. Our next idea that was more digital, was taking that information and putting it on a slideshow presentation. That way, we could save paper and also be able to present it to the class easier because it would be projected onto the screen so that everyone can read it.
A few days before we were supposed to present our slideshow to the class, Isobel joined our group because her partner wasn’t going to be there for the presentations. Isobel added some of the information that she had done with her partner, since Izzy and I had already finished our project.
Another interesting part of this project was the grading criteria. Instead of the teacher giving us the criteria, we had to make our own individual criteria that was specific to our project. Using the core competencies that we have been learning about in school, we wrote our own criteria.
The core competencies
– Questioning and predicting
– Planning and conducting
– Processing and analyzing data and information
– Evaluating
– Applying and innovating
– Communicating
Please enjoy our presentation of the star life cycle by clicking here!
After making my presentation with my group, we were given our mark and some feedback. Although we did meet all of the requirements, we did not exceed them as much as we had hoped. We communicated our worries with our teacher and were given the chance to add to our project so that we could exceed expectations!
The next part of this project was to listen to every groups space related presentations and think of ways that each project relates to the others.
Radiation is important in the star life cycle because it is used with the assistance of heat to make sure that stars don’t collapse when they are going through a reaction.
Colonizing to other planets is an interesting topic because you would need to find a star that is going through a certain stage of the life cycle so that it isn’t too hot or radioactive. Using units of measurements like light years, parsecs, and arcseconds, you could find out how long it would take to get to the planet you want to colonize on.
I made a mindmap to show my learning of all of these topics and how they relate to one another.
As you can see, the different projects we did about space all relate to one another in some way. It may take some research, but all of these projects are related in some way. That was a very interesting part of the project because I had to use my critical thinking skills to find ways that all of these very different projects could possibly be similar. Being able to communicate these ideas was even more difficult, but I was able to use my personal knowledge of my topic to help me.
This project was very exciting because space is such a broad and interesting project. We know so much about space today, but there is still so much to learn. I’m excited to see what new discoveries are uncovered in the future and how they relate to what we already know!
Bibliography:
“What Is Space? The 300-Year-Old Philosophical Battle That Is Still Raging Today.” Phys.org – News and Articles on Science and Technology, Phys.org, phys.org/news/2017-10-space-year-old-philosophical-raging-today.html.
“Ideas about Space.” TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, www.ted.com/topics/space.
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