Middle School Inquiry Lab on the H-R Diagram
In this lab students will differentiate between stages in a star’s life. Students will interpret the H-R diagram. They will graph stars to show their placement on the H-R diagram using temperature and luminosity as the variables.
Each inquiry lab will contain an essential question that will drive the lesson and make students think. For this lesson, the essential question is:
- What characteristics are used to classify different types of stars?
BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND MATERIALS LIST:
Students will begin the lab by reading the essential question and background information. This can be done individually, as lab groups, or as a whole class. If you consider lab groups, you also might include some type of whole class formative checks before digging into the lab.
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Materials List:
- colored pencils
PROCEDURE:
This lab is divided into two parts. In the first part, students will use the data provided and create their own H-R diagram. Using the data provided, students will plot stars on their graph in the correct position based on temperature and absolute magnitude (luminosity).
In the second part, students will evaluate their graph and answer questions based on the information they recorded.
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING:
At this point in the lab, students will be checked for understanding by answering questions about their findings. Here is one that comes with the lab:
- Comparing these three stars on your graph, do you think the temperature of a star has any relation to the absolute magnitude of the star? Support your answer with details.
CONCLUSION
Students will go back to the essential question and write a CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) to conclude the lab. Once completed, students will reflect back on their learning by answering the following questions:
- Identify the relationship between temperature, color, and brightness on the H-R diagram.
- Compare and contrast the Sun with another star on the H-R diagram.
- How do stars change their position on the H-R diagram as they go through their life cycle?
MODIFIED AND INDEPENDENT INQUIRY VERSIONS
All of the Kesler Science inquiry labs come with three different modification levels. Each lab is differentiated using the icons below.
STANDARDS ALIGNMENT
TEKS: 8.8A – Describe components of the universe, including stars, nebulae, and galaxies, and use models such as the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram for classification.
