Background Information for Teachers

Resources provided here help you brush up on your astronomy-related content knowledge, such as the electromagnetic spectrum, theories of the universe, and nuclear fusion.

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Electromagnetic Spectrum http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/emspectrum.html

Part of NASA’s Imagine the Universe educational site, this page gives clear explanations and links keywords to a dictionary of terms for further information. Students will enjoy the colorful illustrations accompanying the text, which vertically follow the spectrum from radio to gamma rays, while teachers will appreciate the link to related lesson plans. MSP full record

Plasma Universe http://www.spaceweathercenter.org/amazing_plasmas/04/04.html

A final page in a tutorial about the plasma phase of matter underlines how abundant plasmas are in the universe. It points out that understanding plasma is central to understanding what happens in the universe. Through space technologies, researchers have been able to study plasmas in areas like those shown in the images that illustrate this page. One of the images shows plasma loops on the Sun. MSP full record

Observe the Change in a Star's Spectrum as Its Motion Changes http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/ visualizations/es2802/es2802page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization

This simulation shows high school students how scientists detect the movement of a star by examining its spectral absorption lines. The introduction explains the positive relationship between wavelength and the distance light travels. In a visualization, students can set a star’s speed away from or toward the Earth and observe the movement of the spectral lines. They can compare the lines with a reference spectrum from a stationary star. MSP full record

Stephen Hawking’s Universe http://www.pbs.org/wnet/hawking/universes/html/univ.html

In this resource, Stephen Hawking discusses his ideas regarding the universe. Also presented are historic perspectives on theories of the universe dating back to Ptolemy. Hawking says, “Did the universe have a beginning, a moment of creation? Or had the universe existed forever? The debate between these two views raged for centuries without reaching any conclusions. Personally, I’m sure that the universe began with a hot Big Bang. But will it go on forever? If not, how will it end?...". MSP full record

Activity: Fusion Reactions http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/teachers/lessons/xray_spectra/activity-fusion.html

We are not suggesting you try this activity designed for high school classes with your students necessarily; however, it can be a content review for you and give you insight regarding some ways to present to your students the theory of how the various kinds of matter came to be. For example, middle school students understand that some kinds of matter are "heavier" relative to others, i.e., denser. The activity shows that stars start by burning hydrogen and end up creating many heavier elements inside their cores, elements that will be released into space when the star dies in a supernova explosion. MSP full record

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Copyright August 2007 — The Ohio State University. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0424671. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.