Physical Science, Module 16, An Introduction to Astrophysics

This module had only one very simple experiment.
Very simple.
We almost did not meet for class.  I decided to go ahead since I needed to go over some things for our upcoming Biology instead of waiting until Monday.
First thing, Cousin C asked, "Do we get to blow something up?"
He has asked me this all year.
I said, "No... um, wait!  Yes, you do!"
"Really???"  <big grin>
"Yes, you get to blow up a balloon!"  I tossed it to him.
He laughed and blew it up right away.  =D

Exp. 16.1, An Expanding Universe, is very simple.  With a marker, the kids placed dots all over the balloon, leaving a space for one dot in a different color.  The different colored dot represented our Milky Way galaxy.
They blew up the balloon and watched the "galaxies" get farther away from each other.
This is to represent how most astronomers think the universe is expanding, based on observations of the red shift, but we don't know this for a fact.  If it is expanding this way, the universe has no center.  Yes, it appears other galaxies are getting farther from ours, but if you look at all the dots, they are all getting farther from each other.
In this module, we learned the difference between nuclear fusion and nuclear fission and the tragic accident at the Chernobyle nuclear power plant in the Soviet Union in 1986.  We learned about classifying the stars, and the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram.  Also about measuring the distance to stars, light years, different kind of galaxies, and the red shift.
This was an interesting module, and now I am ready to begin Biology!  =)
--Videos we watched for Module 16.
--Play  Quizlet.  Scroll to find the Module you want.