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A Star Is Born

Stars form, evolve, and are "born" in swirling clouds of gas called stellar nurseries or nebulae. Students will learn about the process and create a representation of these colorful molecular clouds.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Tissues or Tissue Paper

Steps

  • Step 1

    Astronomers estimate that the universe could contain up to one septillion stars. That's a one followed by 24 zeros! Our Milky Way alone contains more than 100 billion. But how did these stars form? Have students investigate the process, which starts in large clouds of gas and dust called molecular clouds. What happens when gas clumps form and collide with each other? How does friction cause a protostar, sometimes called a baby star, to develop? Why are molecular clouds sometimes called stellar nurseries? Have students look at images taken by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope that reveal the beautiful and colorful interiors of stellar nurseries. 

  • Step 2

    Have students create images of these colorful clouds where stars are born. They can use various colors of chalk on construction paper and then brush a tissue over the chalk to simulate the swirling colorful dust in a molecular cloud.

  • Step 3

    Ask students to present their art to the class and discuss what they learned about how new stars come into being. Then display the colorful creations on a "Stellar Nursery" bulletin board.

Standards

SCI: Ask questions about the features of phenomena observed and conclusions drawn from investigations or models. 

SCI: Explore similarities and differences in patterns and use them to sort, classify, communicate, and analyze natural phenomena and change. 

Adaptations

Have students work in groups to write and perform a play based on the life cycle of a star. 

Have students learn about and try to identify constellations in the night sky. Ask them to sketch the constellations they see.