1.40
Star in a Box
Chris North – Cardiff University
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Short Description:
Explore the lifecycle of stars, using an interactive app showing animations of how stars
change over the course of their lives.
Aims:
To teach students about the lifecycles of stars
Fostered Skills:
Problem Solving, Information Technology
Connection to the curriculum:
Lifecycle of stars,, Classification of stars, Nuclear fusion, Origin of the chemical elements
Implementation of the Demonstrator:
Demonstrator
Star in a Box (www.lcogt.net/siab
www.lcogt.net/siab) is an interactive educational web-app which shows the
life cycles stars through animated diagrams and charts.
charts The display shows the variation
temperature, brightness and size as the star evolves,
evolves along with an animated HertzsprungHertzsprung
Russell diagram. The animation can be repeated with different mass stars. The material
should be coverable in 1 lesson, but could be split in two, with steps 1-4
1 4 in the
th first lesson,
and the remaining steps in the second lesson, optionally with some homework in between.
1. Introducing stars [approx.
approx. 10-15
10
minutes]
Educational resources are available for GCSE and below, and A-level
A level classes
(available from h+p://
://blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/physicsoutreach/resources
resources/star-in-a-box/).
These include a powerpoint file for the teacher to introduce the properties of stars
and the Hertzsprung –Russell
–
diagram, which is used by Star in a Box.
2. Introducing stars (A-level)
level) [approx. 10 mins]
The A-level
level material also includes material relating to black body radiation,
radiation and more
detail of nuclear fusion reactions taking place within a star. This material will help
them understand
3. Stellarium [approx. 20-30 minutes]
The first part of the activity is to use Stellarium to look for different mass stars. Turn
off the ground (press ‘g’), atmosphere (press ‘a’) and fog (press ‘f’) and explore the
skies. Stars appear many different colours and brightnesses, and students can
investigate the differences between the brightest stars. For example, some are
inherently bright (i.e. have a lower absolute magnitude) but are rather distant, while
others are very close to us. The students should also notice how the colours of some
stars differ from each other, and ask questions as to why this occurs.
4. Optional further work: [20 mins or preparatory homework]
Additional information about particular stars (e.g. their mass and temperature) can
be found online (e.g. Wikipedia) to further investigate the properties of a few stars
(e.g. mass, temperature, age etc.). This could be set as preparatory homework for
older age groups.
5. Using Star in a Box (GCSE) [approx. 20-30 minutes]
The next step of the activity is for the students to use Star in a Box
(www.lcogt.net/siab). Students should use beginner mode. The app should answer
many of the questions the students would have asked themselves during the initial
part of the activity, such as why stars are of different brightnesses and temperatures.
The information bar at the top of the box also explains why some of the stars go
through the stages that they do. To guide their exploration of the lifecycle of stars,
question sheets are available as part of the educational resources. If splitting the
activity over two lessons, we suggest letting them play with star in a box as
homework, possibly answering section A of the worksheet.
6. Using Star in a Box (A-level): [approx. 30-60 minutes]
As well as material similar to the GCSE question sheets, the A-level question sheet
requires students to download the data table from Star in a Box and use Excel to plot
various graphs. This allows them to explore the processes taking place within a star in
more detail.
7. Optional: nuclear fusion [approx. 25-30 minutes]
The teacher presentation includes additional material on the nuclear fusion
reactions, which could be used to link to relevant parts of the syllabus.
8. Further work / gifted and talented: [homework]
The ‘advanced’ mode of Star in a Box has much more information and detail than the
beginner mode, so particularly keen students may find it interesting and informative
to explore the lifecycle of stars in more detail.
Domain:
Physics,
Astronomy
Big Idea of Science:
6
Age group:
12-15
15-18
18-25
25+
Time needed:
KS3/4: 1-2 hours (e.g. 1-2
lessons, or 1 lesson +
homework)
KS5: 2-3 hours (e.g. 2
lessons + homework)
Languages
available:
English
Equipment needed
Involved actors
Used eTool and link:
•
Teachers, Students
Stellarium,
Computers, ideally one
per small group (2-4
students), with access
to the internet and with
Stellarium installed. For
the A-level activity,
Excel (or another
spreadsheet
application) is required.
www.stellarium.org
star in a box:
http://lcogt.net/siab/
Educational resources:
http://blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/
physicsoutreach/resource
s/star-in-a-box
Quality Characteristics of the Demonstrator
Characteristic I
how Demonstrator follows an inquiry based approach
Both Stellarium and Star in a Box app have much more functionality than discussed in this
scenario, so students will be able to explore for themselves.
Characteristic II
how Demonstrator integrates eLearning element
Stellarium and Star in a Box are both computer-based resources.
The A-level activity also requires use of ExceL to plot, manipulate and interpret graphs.
Characteristic III
how Demonstrator follows a Big Idea of Science
The solar system is a very small part of one of millions of galaxies in the Universe.
Scientific explanations, theories and models are those that best fit the facts at a particular
time - we haven’t physically watched stars go through lifecycles on observed deeper into
the universe to fit theories onto what we observe.
Characteristic IV
how Demonstrator is connected to a real world problem
The apparent brightness of stars is related to their distance by the inverse square law.
Experiences with the Demonstrator?
Yes,
•
•
Focus groups involving teachers for a range of age groups, from 12 to 18 years, and
trialled in the classroom.
The results of these focus groups led to the refinement of the educational resources
included as part of this demonstrator