Lesson 8 of 84 · Space
Experiment⭐ 30 XP🚀 StarbaseGalaxies: Islands of Stars
Galaxies: Islands of Stars.
🎯 Your mission
Run the experiment. Find out what really happens.
⚡ The twist
Gravity is invisible — but it shapes everything.
Mind = Blown
🌟 The light from the closest star (after the sun) takes 4 years to reach you.
Make a hypothesis first
Before you check: which is closer?
What You'll Learn
Galaxies are enormous collections of stars, gas, and dust held together by gravity. Our Milky Way galaxy contains hundreds of billions of stars and is a spiral galaxy.
Key Words
- planet
- asteroid
Materials Needed
- ruler
- compass
- black paper
Safety First
- Tie back long hair before starting the experiment.
- Protect your work surface with newspaper or plastic.
Steps
Read the introduction and identify the main idea of this lesson.
Build a scale model of the inner solar system using different-sized balls. Research the relative sizes and distances of the planets.
Observe what happens and describe it in detail.
Record your observations in your science journal with measurements and descriptions.
Check Your Understanding
Question 1
1 of 3What is a galaxy?
Where you see this in real life
Every sunrise and every shadow is this idea in action.
Stretch Challenge
Try this in real life this week.
Look at the moon tonight. Notice its shape. Look again in 3 days.
For the dinner table
“If you could visit any planet, which would you pick and why?”
Next Smart Experiment
We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.
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