Education
This page provides resources to explore three scientific topics underlying the Backyard Worlds: Cool Neighbors project -- what makes brown dwarfs unique, the formation of stars, planets, and galaxies, and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescope.
Under each topic, you will see designated educator resources (lesson plans, student worksheets, assessments, and online courses) and background information resources (articles, videos, textbook chapters, and blogs.) Make sure to read the "audience" and "type" tag under each resource to determine which resource meets your needs.
Topic 1: What makes brown dwarfs unique
In this section learners will find resources to understand what brown dwarfs are, how they differ from stars and planets, the use of spectra and the H-R diagram to classify brown dwarfs and stars, and how parallax can confirm that a brown dwarf is nearby.
Topic 1 Educator Resources
Analyzing Spectra: Link, Homepage
Classroom tested multiple choice questions (for assessment or think-pair-share) to encourage discussion on how to analyze spectra.
Audience: Ages 18+, Formal Education
Type: Multiple Choice Questions
Classifying Stars: Link
Examine spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and group stars together to create your own classification system.
Audience: Ages 16+, Formal Education
Type: Exercise, Discussion Questions
Topic 1 Background Information
The Spectra of Stars (and Brown Dwarfs): Link
This textbook chapter describes how spectra are used to classify stars. The main seven spectral classes are defined as well as the additional classes to include brown dwarfs.
Audience: Ages 18+, Background Information
Type: Textbook Section
The H-R Diagram: Link
This textbook chapter discusses features of the H-R diagram and how it can be used to explore physical properties of stars.
Audience: Ages 18+, Background Information
Type: Textbook Section
Brown Dwarfs: Crash Course Astronomy: Link
This eleven minute video explains the history of discovery of brown dwarfs, characterstics of brown dwarfs, and WISE's role in hunting for brown dwarfs.
Audience: Ages 14+, Background Information
Type: Video
The Brown Dwarf Debate: Link
This video is about the line between brown dwarfs and gas giant planets : does it exist? Is it the deuterium-burning threshold? Behavior? Metallicity? Formation? Or is there no meaningful scientific distinction, and are brown dwarfs and giant planets really all on a spectrum with no clear line between them?
Audience: Ages 14+, Background Information
Type: Video
Stellar Parallax: Link
In Backyard Worlds, we are searching for nearby objects, which have large parallaxes. Learn what parallax is, how it relates to the Earth and the stars, and the formula to measure distance to nearby stars.
Audience: Ages 13+, Background Information
Type: Video, Article
What Makes Brown Dwarfs Unique?: Link
This webpage explains how brown dwarfs are unique from both stars and planets.
Audience: Ages 11+, Background Information
Type: Article
Topic 2: The formation of stars, planets, and galaxies
The formation of stars, planets, and galaxies in our Universe is a topic of current research with many details still unknown. Backyard Worlds: Cool Neighbors contributes to this research by studying brown dwarfs, which share characteristics with stars and planets and serve as analogs to exoplanets. The resources below discuss what is known on the formation of stars, planets, and galaxies.
Topic 2 Educator Resources
Stellar Evolution: Link, Homepage
Classroom tested multiple choice questions (for assessment or think-pair-share) to encourage discussion on the evolution of stars.
Audience: Ages 18+, Formal Education
Type: Multiple Choice Questions
Stars and Their Lives: Link. Select "Session 6 -Stars and Their Lives" and "Session 7 -Stars and Their Lives (Part II)"
A kinesthetic modeling activity to learn how the life cycle of a star depends on its mass, how stars fuse elements in their core, and how those elements are dispersed into the Universe at the end of their lives.
Audience: Ages 11+, Formal Education
Type: Hands-On Activities, Activity Instructions
Model How the Solar System Formed: Link
In this project, you'll create your own solar system out of playdough to learn how the planets formed through orbital motion and the Sun's energy.
Audience: Ages 5+, Formal Education, Informal Education
Type: Hands-On Activity
Topic 2 Background Resources
Exploring Star and Planet Formation: Link
This animation explores the stages in the formation of stars and planets.
Audience: Ages 14+, Background Information
Type: Video
How Do Planets Form?: Link
A short description on how planets are formed in the disk around a young star.
Audience: Ages 14+, Background Information
Type: Article
Where Do Galaxies Come From?: Link
A video explaining how telescopes help us to study the formation of galaxies.
Audience: Ages 11+, Background Information
Type: Video
"How do stars live and die?" (Ask an Astronomer): Link
Dr. Michelle Thaller explains the life cycle of stars.
Audience: Ages 6+, Background Information
Type: Video
Topic 3: NASA's WISE space telescope
The images you are reviewing in Backyard Worlds: Cool Neighbors were captured by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission. WISE is a NASA space telescope that has recorded the entire night sky in infrared light. In this section learners can explore what WISE is studying and how, the process of creating images from telescopes, and how various types of telescopes work.
Topic 3 Educator Resources
WISE: Focus on Infinity: Link
A video explaining the creation, launch, and scientific goals of the WISE telescope with an attached classroom discussion activity.
Audience: Ages 11+, Formal Education, Background Information
Type: Video, Classroom Discussion Guide
Creating Color Pictures Using Images from NASA's WISE Mission: Link
These step-by-step instructions explain the basic processes for creating a color picture using the images downloaded from the science data archives of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer space telescope.
Audience: Ages 10+, Formal Education
Type: Lesson plans, Online Activities
How does my eye compare to the telescope?: Teacher Guide, Student Journal
These introductory activities help you compare the features of your own eye to those of the telescope. Estimate your eye's aperture, field-of-view, "exposure time," and other parameters.
Audience: Ages 12+, Formal Education
Type: Hands-On Activities, Lesson Plan, Student Worksheet
Invisible Light: Link (Select " Session 4 - Invisible Light")
Discussion and group experimentation allow students to learn that in astronomy, it is important to make observations over a wide range of wavelengths.
Audience: Ages 11+, Formal Education
Type: Hands-On Activity, Instructions, Student Worksheets
Kinesthetic Telescope: Link
A physical activity to put yourself in the shoes (or stand!) of a telescope.
Audience: Ages 10+, Formal Education, Informal Education
Type: Activity, Facilitator Guide
Topic 3 Background Information
Why Do We Put Telescopes in Space?: Link
Hear about the advantages and disadvantages of placing telescopes in space rather than on earth in this video.
Audience: Ages 11+, Background Information
Type: Video
How Do Telescopes Work?: Link
This article explains how telescopes allow astronomers to see faraway objects with the use of lens or mirrors.
Audience: Ages 8+, Background Information
Type: Article