Astronomy Nebulas and New Stars
Educator Information and Extension Activities
Directions
This packet is a complement to our video Interactive Life Cycle of Stars in Our Universe
lesson Nebulas and New Stars. The With your guardian’s permission, search for
following pages include these items: “Life Cycle of Stars | PBS LearningMedia”
online to find and explore an interactive
● Review Vocabulary (p. 2) stellar journey through our universe.
● Guided Notes (pp. 3-4) After launching the experience, choose from
● Guess the Stages (p. 5) any of the stages in the top left and see
● Plotting the Stars (pp. 6-7) what happens!
● Plotting the Stars Debrief (p. 8)
After traveling to each one, choose one to
We recommend printing this packet prior to learn even more about. Read through the
your student watching the video so that section below the interactive scene to find
they can follow along with the guided out more about…
notes, which they can then use when ● What you’re seeing
answering practice questions. ● Where it came from
● What’s happening now
The ungraded extension activities promote ● What’s next
the following: ● Properties and characteristics
50 Gold/$coops
● Critical thinking
● Inquiry skills Star Facts Trading Cards
● Vocabulary mastery To make trading cards based on the life
cycle stages of stars, you will need some
Suggested Gold/$coops materials such as index cards, markers, and
Using the reward function on the first tab of a photo or illustration of a star for each
your parent account, you may wish to card. First, research the life cycle stages and
award Gold/$coops for extension activities choose a stage you want to focus on. Next,
and/or accomplishments completed outside create a design for each card by drawing a
the website. picture of the star and labeling its stage on
the front of the card. On the back of each
We recommend the following amount for card, write a description of the star’s stage,
each successfully completed lab and including key characteristics and events that
activity: 50 Gold/$coops occur during that stage. Finally, use markers
or colored pencils to add detail to the front
and back of each card. You can use these
trading cards as a fun and educational tool
to review the life cycle stages of stars and to
reinforce your understanding of this
important topic. You can even try creating a
game to play with them!
50 Gold/$coops
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1
Nebulas and New Stars
Nebulas and New Stars Vocabulary Review
Please review these key terms to develop a better understanding of this lesson.
1. Nebula - a giant cloud of dust and gas in space
2. Protostar - a very young star that is still gathering mass
3. Nuclear fusion - when two or more lighter atoms come together to make
a heavier one
4. Main sequence star - a star that is undergoing nuclear fusion
5. Red giant - the phase in a star’s life cycle when it expands and cools
6. Planetary nebula - a cloud of gases and dust formed from the outer
layers of a red giant star
7. White dwarf - the remnant stellar core of an average-sized star
8. Gravity - a force that pulls things toward each other
9. Dense - something that is closely packed together, or has a lot of things
in a small space
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Nebulas and New Stars
Nebulas and New Stars
Guided Notes
Instructions
Download and print this PDF to complete while watching the Nebulas and
New Stars teaching video. Fill in each of the blanks with the appropriate
word or phrase. It’s OK to pause the video when it’s time to write.
Overview
In this lesson, you are going to identify each stage in the life cycle of an
average-sized star and explain the process of nuclear fusion and its role in
star formation.
The Life Cycle of Average-Sized Stars
1. New stars are formed in giant clouds of dust and gases in space called
______________.
2. How protostars are formed:
a. ______________ begins to pull dust and gases together.
b. As it gets bigger, the gravitational pull becomes _______________.
c. It collapses and pulls in heavy, dense material to the center.
3. A protostar is a very __________ star that is still gathering mass.
4. Once a protostar has enough material, the core becomes hot enough for
nuclear fusion. This is when two or more lighter atoms come together to
make a heavier one.
5. Label the atoms that fuse together in stars:
6. Nuclear fusion releases energy in
_____________
the form of heat and __________.
7. Once a star begins the process of
helium
nuclear fusion, it is known as a
main ________________ star.
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Nebulas and New Stars
8. Nuclear fusion is a source of fuel for stars. Once a star is a main sequence
star, the events of its life are determined by its ________. Why do you
think the life cycle is different for average-sized stars and massive stars?
9. 10. 11.
Complete the table with information learned from the video.
9. Red __________ 10. Planetary Nebula 11. White ________
● Helium fuses into ● A tiny ________ of
● Occurs once all the
heavier elements heavy elements
____________ in
like carbon and that remains after
the star’s core is
____________. the outer layers are
used up
● Outer layers cool expelled
● The star expels the
off and expand ● Its mass is
outer layers in an
until it is ________ condensed down to
_______________
times larger than as little as ____ of
of gases and dust.
the original star. its original size.
12. The gases and dust from the planetary nebula drift off into space and
may eventually wind up in another stellar nebula. Why are these stages of
a star’s life described as a cycle?
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Nebulas and New Stars
Guess the Stages!
Think about how astronomers identify the life cycle stage of different stars. Use
the life cycle stages listed below to label each image.
Nebula Protostar Main Sequence Red Giant
Planetary Nebula White Dwarf
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Nebulas and New Stars
Plotting the Stars
Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams, also known as H-R diagrams, are graphs that
are used to plot the luminosity of stars against their effective temperature. The
luminosity of a star is a measure of the amount of energy it emits, and the
effective temperature is a measure of the star’s surface temperature.
In an H-R diagram, stars can be
sorted into different regions,
based on their luminosity and
temperature. For example, the
main sequence region contains
the majority of stars and includes
stars in the process of nuclear
fusion. Red giants, which are
stars that have exhausted their nuclear fuel and are expanding, are located in a
different region of the H-R diagram.
H-R diagrams are valuable tools in the study of stellar changes. By plotting the
luminosity and temperature of stars, scientists can see how stars change over
time, and they can make predictions about the future of stars, based on their
current position in the diagram. H-R diagrams can be used to compare stars in
different parts of the galaxy. They can also help us find groups of stars that are
close together, called star clusters and associations.
Practice sorting stars with the cards on the next page. Remember, L stands for
luminosity and K stands for Kelvin, a unit of temperature. Cut the colored
squares apart. Then, look for a pattern to help you sort and organize them.
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Nebulas and New Stars
Epsilon Indus Betelgeuse Acamar Sun
L = 0.16 Suns L = 9,000 Suns L = 110 Suns L = 1 Sun
T = 4,200 K T = 3,000 K T = 20,000 K T = 4,800 K
KO65430 Tau Cetus Wezen Mu Geminorum
L = 0.01 Suns L = 0.5 Suns L = 60,000 Suns L = 310 Suns
T = 3,500 K T = 5,200 K T = 6,000 K T = 3,100 K
Phaet DAAC444 Beta Sagittae Ruchbah
L = 480 Suns L = 0.09 Suns L = 300 Suns L = 70 Suns
T = 20,000 K T = 4,100 K T = 6,000 K T = 15,000 K
Mirach Proxima Sirius Epsilon Eri
L = 480 Suns L = 0.00005 Suns L = 23 Suns L = 0.28 Suns
T = 3,200 K T = 2,900 K T = 9,800 K T = 4,200 K
Arneb Alpheratz ARN93227 CD3914192
L = 10,000 Suns L = 132 Suns L = 0.7 Suns L = 0.03 Suns
T = 7,300 K T = 22,000 K T = 5,000 K T = 3,600 K
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Nebulas and New Stars
Plotting the Stars Debrief
1. How did you arrange your cards? Why did you choose this way of
arranging them? What patterns did you notice?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
2. What do the different colors of the cards represent? Closely examine the
H-R diagram on page 6 and record your observations.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
3. What are two statements that can be made about the data in the H-R
diagram? For example, you could state that most of the stars in the H-R
diagram are main sequence stars.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
4. Why do you think astronomers organize and arrange stars based on their
luminosity and temperature? What information could this provide?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
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Nebulas and New Stars
