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Grades 9-12
Museum of Science, Boston
This gu id e is m eant to be a su p p lem ent for teachers bringing their stu d ents to the live Planetariu m show
Explore t he Univ erse at the Mu seu m of Science, Boston. The su ggested grad e levels for this show are
grades 9-12.
A typ ical Explore t he Univ erse show begins on the Earth, exam ining several constellations, p lanets, and
stars of interest visible in the night sky. The show then p rogresses throu gh the solar system , d iscu ssing
p rop erties of the p lanets, m oons, asteroid s, com ets, and d w arf p lanets. Ou tsid e the solar system ,
interstellar sp ace and p henom ena like nebu lae, star clu sters, and exop lanets are exp lored . We d iscu ss the
Milky Way Galaxy and its m ajor com p onents, su ch as the sp iral arm s, central b ar, and su p erm assive
black hole. From there, w e exam ine other galaxies, starting at the Local Grou p , follow ed by u p to 1.5
m illion galaxies in the observable u niverse. At the very ed ge of the u niverse, w e d iscu ss Cosm ic
Microw ave Backgrou nd Rad iation and the origins and d istribu tion of the u nivers e. Em p hasis is p laced on
interaction w ith the p resenter, and the im m ersive natu re of the show attem p ts to d eliver an
u nd erstand ing of m ore abstract concep ts su ch as scale and scop e.
Fundamental concept
Learning standard
Exp lain the Big Bang Theory and d iscu ss the evid ence that
su p p orts it (backgrou nd rad iation, and Relativistic Dop p ler
effect ~ red shift).
Exp lain how the su n, earth, and solar system form ed from a
nebu la of d u st and gas in a sp iral arm of the Milky Way
Galaxy abou t 4.6 billion years ago.
Educators Guide
Grades 9-12
Museum of Science, Boston
Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation- Thou gh visible telescop es reveal sp ace as d ark, rad io
telescop es can p ick u p a faint backgrou nd glow of therm al rad iation that fills the observ able u niverse
alm ost u niform ly. This rad iation is m ost visible in the m icrow ave region of the electrom agnetic sp ectru m .
At 379,000 years after the Big Bang, the u niverse had cooled to 4000 Kelvin, w hich w as finally cool
enou gh to allow the form ation of the first atom s. In the early 1990s, the COsm ic Backgrou nd Exp lorer
satellite (COBE) m easu red the tem p eratu re and d istribu tion of this m icrow ave rad iation, d etecting that
there w ere slight variations throu ghou t. These variations are believed to correlate to r egions of greater or
lesser d ensity, w hich later d ictated w here the first stars and galaxies w ou ld have form ed (and thu s w here
these objects are m ore d ensely d istribu ted tod ay).
Map of the Cosm ic Microw ave Backgrou nd Rad iation taken by the Wilkinson Microw ave
Anisotrop y Probe (WMAP). Blu e color corresp ond s w ith cooler areas, red color corresp ond s
w ith w arm er areas, w here tem p eratu res vary by as sm all as 0.00001 Kelvin. More
inform ation on WMAP can be fou nd at http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/.
Cosmic web- The u niverse d isp lays a rou gh stru ctu re referred to as the cosm ic w eb, m ad e u p of 3
m ajor com p onents: clusters, filaments, and voids. Clusters are the d ensest collections of galaxies. Filaments
are low d ensity, string-like d istribu tions of galaxies, m ost often fou nd connecting clu sters to one another.
V oids are the relatively em p ty sp ace that exists betw een clu sters and filam ents.
Educators Guide
Grades 9-12
Museum of Science, Boston
Dwarf planet- An object that (a) orbits the Su n and (b) has su fficient m ass to assu m e a nearly rou nd
shap e, bu t (c) m ay orbit in a zone that has other objects in it (su ch as the asteroid or Ku ip er belts). There
are cu rrently five accep ted d w arf p lanets: Ceres, Plu to, Eris, Makem ake, and H au m ea.
Exoplanet- A p lanet fou nd orbiting a star ou tsid e ou r solar system . In som e cases, m ore than one
exop lanet is fou nd orbiting the sam e star, m aking it p art of a m u ltip le p lanetary system .
Galaxy- A collection of billions of stars, gas, and d u st, all held together by gravity. Ou r Milky Way
Galaxy is spiral in shap e. Som e galaxies are called elliptical and are sp herical in shap e, w hile others are
called irregular and have shap es very d ifficu lt to classify. The closest sp iral galaxy to the Milky Way is the
And rom ed a Galaxy, alm ost 2.5 m illion light years aw ay.
Light year- A light year is the d istance light can travel in a vacu u m in one Earth year rou ghly
equ ivalent to 6 trillion m iles. We u se this m easu rem ent for objects in sp ace becau se d istances are too great
to m easu re by conventional m eans.
Nebula- An interstellar clou d of d u st and gas (p red om inantly hyd rogen and heliu m ). N ebu lae are
com m only thou ght of as p laces w here stars and p lanets are being actively form ed , bu t they also d escribe
other astronom ical p henom ena. A planetary nebula is the gaseou s shell released u p on the d eath of a low
m ass star. Supernova remnants, the gas throw n ou t from an exp lod ing, high m ass star, are also som etim es
referred to as nebu lae (for exam p le, the Crab N ebu la).
Neutron Star- The d ense rem nant left behind after the collap se of a very m assive star (betw een 4 to 8
tim es the m ass of the Su n). The ou ter layers of the star are blow n ou t into sp ace as the star exp lod es in a
supernova, leaving behind only the central region of the original star . This central region collap ses in on
itself d u e to gravity, so m u ch so that the p rotons and electrons are forced together to becom e neu trons.
Planet- A celestial bod y that (a) orbits a star, (b) has su fficient m ass to assu m e a nearly rou nd shap e, and
(c) has cleared the neighborhood arou nd its orbit, w hich m eans it is free of other large objects becau se the
form ing p lanet has accreted m ost of the nearby available m aterial.
Radio Sphere- The bou nd ary of rad io transm issions sent from Earth into sp ace, d is tribu ted u niform ly
in a sp herical shap e w ith Earth at the center. The earliest signals w ith enou gh p ow er to escap e the Earth
w ere broad cast in the m id -1930s, and w ill continu e to extend ou t into sp ace at the sp eed of light. Becau se
they have traveled m u ch faster and farther than any sp acecraft, these rad io transm issions m ark the
farthest influ ence of hu m anity in the Galaxy. The cu rrent rad iu s of the rad io sp here is ap p roxim ately 75
light years.
Star Cluster- A grou p of stars that share a com m on origin (neb u la) and are bou nd by gravity to one
another. There are 2 typ es of clu sters: 1) Globular clu sters are rou ghly sp herical in shap e and contain
betw een 10,000 to several m illion very old stars p acked into a very sm all area; 2) Open clu sters generally
contain you nger stars and are less tightly-bou nd than globu lar clu sters, containing only a few hu nd red
stars.
Supergiant- These are the m ost m assive typ es of stars, ranging from 10 to 70 tim es the m ass of the Su n.
Their extrem e m ass typ ically m eans their lifetim es are short, lasting anyw here from only a few hu nd red
thou sand years to 30 m illion years. When these stars have reached the end of their lives, they exp lod e in a
su p ernova, leaving behind either a neu tron star or a black hole.
Educators Guide
Grades 9-12
Museum of Science, Boston
Supernova- The exp losion and internal collap se of a very m assive star (greater than 4 tim es the m ass of
the Su n) at the end of its life.
White Dwarf- The incred ibly d ense rem nant of a star of low or m ed iu m m ass (rou ghly 0.07 to 10 tim es
the m ass of the Su n). After a star has bu rned throu gh its fu el su p p ly, a star of this size w ill shed its ou ter
layers as a p lanetary nebu la, leaving the d ense core behind , w hich w ill becom e the w hite d w arf. This core
w ill cool off slow ly over tim e to becom e a black dwarf, at w hich p oint it w ou ld no longer rad iate heat or
light.
Comments?
Please em ail schoolplanetarium@mos.org w ith any com m ents or su ggestions you m ay have to im p rove
this ed u cator's gu id e!