Lesson 15 of 84 · Space
Simulation⭐ 30 XP🚀 StarbaseThe Sun's Life Cycle
The Sun's Life Cycle.
🎯 Your mission
Run the sim. Spot the pattern.
⚡ The twist
The light you see now started its trip a long time ago.
Mind = Blown
🌌 If you could drive a car straight up at highway speed, you'd reach space in under an hour.
Make a hypothesis first
Guess: how big does that look from here vs. from there?
What You'll Learn
The sun goes through an 11-year cycle of activity. During solar maximum, more sunspots and solar flares occur, which can affect satellites and power grids on Earth.
Key Words
- light-year
- constellation
Steps
Study the diagram and label the parts you recognize.
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 nebula?
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.
Share this experiment
Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.
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