OpenSciEd Physics + Earth & Space Unit 6: Stars & the Big Bang Teacher Edition

OpenSciEd High School addresses all high school NGSS standards. This comprehensive science curriculum empowers students to question, design, investigate, and solve the world around them. 

• Phenomenon Based - Centered around exploring phenomena or solving problems
• Driven by Student Questions - Storyline based on students’ questions and ideas 
• Grounded in Evidence - Incremental building and revision of ideas based on evidence 
• Collaborative - class and teacher figure out ideas together
• Equitable - Builds a classroom culture that values ideas and learning of all

The OpenSciEd model uses a storyline approach, introducing phenomena that anchors storylines developing disciplinary core ideas, concepts, and science/engineering practices. Students are encouraged to dive deep into key points and solve problems through five activities. 

P.6 Stars & the Big Bang Theory: Why do stars shine and will they shine forever?

This unit is anchored by historical accounts of stars that suddenly appear and disappear shortly later. Students wonder about how some stars appear unchanging while these stars change so drastically within such a short period of time. That makes students wonder why stars shine and what could cause stars to change. They organize their questions regarding matter, energy, and forces and decide to look more closely at the places in the sky where these historical events took place using modern technology. In Lesson Set 1 (Lessons 2-5), students investigate photos and spectra of the remnants of these events and then develop two sets of research questions to investigate in small groups before coming together to come to consensus in Lesson 5 around the fusion and the lifecycle of stars. Students’ small-group internet research is scaffolded by a set of tools introduced strategically across the unit: the Planning for Obtaining Information Tool, the Obtaining Information Tool, and the Evaluating Sources of Information Tool.