48

Lesson 48 of 84 ยท Space

Experimentโญ 30 XP๐Ÿš€ Starbase

Galaxies: Islands of Stars (Part 3)

๐ŸงชLab Brief #48

Galaxies: Islands of Stars (Part 3).

๐ŸŽฏ Your mission

Predict it first. Then prove yourself right (or wrong).

โšก The twist

The light you see now started its trip a long time ago.

๐Ÿคฏ

Mind = Blown

๐ŸŒŒ If you could drive a car straight up at highway speed, you'd reach space in under an hour.

๐Ÿ”ฎ

Make a hypothesis first

Guess: how big does that look from here vs. from there?

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
  • comet

Materials Needed

  • string
  • tape
  • pencil

Safety First

  • Handle glass items carefully to avoid breakage.

Steps

Step 1 โ€” Read

Read the introduction and identify the main idea of this lesson.

Step 2 โ€” Do

Build a scale model of the inner solar system using different-sized balls. Research the relative sizes and distances of the planets.

Step 3 โ€” Observe

Observe what happens and describe it in detail.

Step 4 โ€” Record

Record your observations in your science journal with measurements and descriptions.

Check Your Understanding

Question 1

1 of 3

What is a galaxy?

๐ŸŒ

Where you see this in real life

Every sunrise and every shadow is this idea in action.

๐Ÿ†

Stretch Challenge

Try this in real life this week.

Look at the moon tonight. Notice its shape. Look again in 3 days.

๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐Ÿ‘ง

For the dinner table

โ€œIf you could visit any planet, which would you pick and why?โ€

๐ŸŽฏ

Next Smart Experiment

We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.

โšกShare card

Share this experiment

Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.

๐Ÿ–จ๏ธ

Checkout complete lesson on Space for 8th Grade

Get the full Space track as a printable PDF โ€” all lessons, worksheets, and answer keys.

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