Transcript Comprehension Strategies

Central Questions
Key Vocabulary
Resources
Stellar Evolution
Physics for 11th grade
By James Johnson
Teacher Page
Assessment
Comprehension Strategies
EXIT
Central Questions
1.
2.
3.
Describe the life cycle of a star, from birth on
through death.
How do planetary systems form and how is it
related to stellar birth?
What internal processes keep stars alive?
Back to Map
Resources
Non-Fiction Books
Fiction Books
Textbook
Magazine and Journal Articles
Websites and Webquests
Video and Media
Back to Map
Non-Fiction Books


Taschek, K. (2006). Death Stars, Weird Galaxies,
and a Quasar-Spangled Universe: the Discoveries of the
Very Large Array Telescope. Albuquerque:
University of New Mexico Press.
Clark, S. (2005). Journey to the Stars. Oxford
University Press.
Back to Resources
Fiction Books

Reisman, M. (2008). Simon Bloom: The Gravity
Keeper. New York: Penguin Group.
Back to Resources
Textbook

Chapter 26: Exploring the Universe. In
Wysession, M., Frank, D., & Yancopoulos, S.
(2004). Physical Science: Concepts in Action. (pp. 827855). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Back to Resources
Magazine and Journal Articles




Naeye, R. (2008, November). Red Giant Shock
Breakout. Sky & Telescope, 116(5), 30-30.
Schröder, K., & Connon Smith, R. (2008, May). Distant
future of the Sun and Earth revisited. Monthly Notices of
the Royal Astronomical Society, 386(1), 155-163.
Shepherd, D. (2007, June). STELLAR ORIGINS: From
the Cold Depths of Space. (Cover story). Sky &
Telescope, 113(6), 26-30.
Yeager, A. (2008, October 11). Dead--but not duds.
Science News, 174(8), 26-28.
Back to Resources
Websites and Webquests









http://www.astro.uva.nl/demo/sun/kaft.htm
http://www.espace.gc.ca/eng/educators/resources/astronomy/mod
ule2/content.asp
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/universe/supernova.html
http://www.astronomy.org/astronomy-survival/solform.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081002172445.htm
http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~soper/Stars/hrdiagram.html
http://physics.gmu.edu/~jevans/astr103/CourseNotes/ECText/ch1
7_txt.htm#17.4.1
Webquest: http://www.can-do.com/uci/ssi2003/starlife.html
For annotations, click here.
Back to Resources
Video and Media


http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/astro10
1/java/evolve/evolve.htm
Nova: Death of a Star, WGBH-TV.(2006).
Back to Resources
Key Vocabulary

White dwarf- low mass star that
has stopped thermonuclear reactions
and has shrunk to the size of the
Earth.

Red giant- large, cool star of high

exerted by radiation due to nuclear
fussion.


Supernova(e)-stellar outburst
during which a star increases its
brightness roughly a millionfold.

Planetary nebula- luminous shell

Nuclear fusion- the combining of

nuclei under high temperatures in a
process that releases energy.

H-R diagram- plot of luminosity
of stars against their surface
temperature.
Luminosity- rate at which light is
emitted from a star.
Black hole- object whose gravity is
so strong that the escape speed exceeds
the speed of light.
of gas ejected from an old, low-mass
star.

Main sequence- grouping of stars
on the H-R diagram extending
diagonally across the graph from hot,
luminous to cool, dim stars.
luminosity.

Radiation pressure- pressure
Protostar- star in earliest stage of
formation.

Accretion disk- disk of gas
orbiting a star or black hole.
Back to Map
Comprehension Strategies
Connecting to Background Knowledge
Questioning
Making Inferences and Predicting
Organizing/Summarizing
Vocabulary
Monitoring Comprehension
Back to Map
Questioning
Long Strategy: Question Starters
Short Strategy:
Strategy: Questioning the author
Comprehension Area: Questioning
Literature Source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081002172445.htm
Objective: This strategy is used in order to develop students’ critical thinking of the
texts that they read. By questioning the author about the content, possible bias, etc,
students can gain a deeper understanding of the topic being discussed.
Overview: After having modeled the behavior using a think aloud with a similar
article, students will read the article and write down any questions that they may
have for the author about the message and intent. After they read students will come
up with answers to their question. Finally, the class will discuss their questions and
the answers that they came up with in order to get a fuller understanding of the
content of the article.
Back to Strategies
Connecting to Background
Knowledge
Long Strategy: Connection Cue Cards
Short Strategy:
Strategy: PReP Reading Plan
Comprehension Area: Connecting to background knowledge
Literature Source: Death stars, weird galaxies, and a quasar-spangled
universe: the discoveries of the Very Large Array telescope. Taschek, Karen
(2006)
Objective: Students will access their prior knowledge about the life of stars
before reading the book. This will encourage greater comprehension.
Overview: Students will share their ideas about how stars die and the
consequences there of. This will be accomplished by the teacher asking
questions about the death of stars, supernovae, and black holes in general.
Students will then compare their own ideas to those of the rest of the class and
form predictions about what they will be reading. This also allows the teacher to
identify the students’ level of understanding.
Back to Strategies
Making Inferences and Predicting
Long Strategy: Cause and Effect Timeline
Short Strategy:
Strategy: Cloze Connections
Comprehension Area: Making Inferences and/or Predicting
Literature Source: Journey to the Stars by Stuart Clark (2005), pp. 55-60.
Objective: Students will use their previous knowledge to make inferences in a text
with phrases missing. They will also learn habits for figuring out vocabulary in
context.
Overview: Before class, the teacher finds important words and phrases in the text
and removes them. In the place of the words, lines will be there for the students to
fill in. Some of the sections are simply a single word, while others are longer
phrases. These longer sentences are inferences that the students will have to
make. When the students make their inferences, have them underline words and
phrases that they used to make those inferences. Have the class share their
inferences and the evidence that they used.
Back to Strategies
Organizing/Summarizing
Long Strategy: Three-Column Notes
Short Strategy:
Strategy: Outline-ish Thoughts
Comprehension Area: Organizing/Summarizing
Literature Source: Naeye, R. (2008, November). Red Giant Shock Breakout. Sky
& Telescope, 116(5), 30-30.
Objective: Students will practice developing outlines in order to organize
information gathered from reading the article on red giants.
Overview: After the students have read the article, the class will create an outline
for the reading. This will be achieved by providing the class with a partially
completed graphic organizer containing headings and subheadings relevant to the
article. This organizer will be completed by the students in small groups.
Back to Strategies
Vocabulary
Long Strategy: Vocab Journal
Short Strategy:
Strategy: Quick Draw
Comprehension Area: Vocabulary
Literature Source: Physical Science: Concepts in Action. Wysession, Frank,
Yancopoulos. (2004) pp. 846-855.
Objective: Students will find new vocabulary and its meaning, and then show their
understanding of the new words by creating a graphic and having the rest of the
class guess which of the new words the picture represents.
Overview: This is similar to the game Pictionary. After reading the text and
identifying new vocabulary words, the students will compile a class list and discuss
possible meanings for the words. Using teams, students will draw the new words
and their team must try to guess the word. This will demonstrate the students’
understanding of the new vocabulary.
Back to Strategies
Monitoring Comprehension
Short Strategy:
Strategy: RATA
Comprehension Area: Monitoring Comprehension
Literature Source: Schröder, K., & Connon Smith, R. (2008, May). Distant
future of the Sun and Earth revisited. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Society, 386(1), 155-163.
Objective: This strategy is basically a think-aloud. As I read the article aloud, I
will make sure to stop and ask questions at points that may be difficult or present
a new vocabulary word. Short summaries and interjections of thoughts could
also be utilized.
Overview: This strategy models what students should do when being actively
engaged with the material they are reading. It helps students connect to
background knowledge and to think about what they are reading. It also helps
show students that it is okay to stop and ask a question in the middle of a text.
All of the above help to develop a deeper understanding of the content.
Back to Strategies
Monitoring Comprehension II
Monitoring Comprehension II
Short Strategy:
Strategy: Read Aloud Everything
Comprehension Area: Monitoring Comprehension
Literature Source: http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~soper/Stars/hrdiagram.html
Objective: Students will concentrate more on the reading since they will be more
actively involved while reading. This will lead to deeper understanding of the
content.
Overview: This strategy is quite easy to do; students simply read everything aloud.
This requires greater focus on the material thus leading to more undrestanding. A
follow up discussion will verify that students have comprehened the material.
Back to Strategies
Monitoring Comprehension
Assessment
During Unit
• Students will keep a blog as a star
of a given mass. As each step of
stellar evolution is discussed, they will
post about how that stage of evolution
is manifested in their star.
• Students’ learning of vocabulary will
be assessed using the Quick Draw
strategy described in the strategy
section.
• Students will be assessed following
the Connection Cue Cards lesson.
They will be assessed based upon
completion of their cards as well as
thoroughness.
After Unit
• Writing to Learn with a novel.
Follow the directions given in this
Podcast.
•After the unit students will be given
a timeline sheet similar to the one
used in the Cause and Effect
timeline strategy. They will fill out
three more timelines for stars of
different masses indicating the
various stages of stellar evolution.
•Students wil be graded on the
completeness of their Vocab
Journals begun in the strategy
listed previously and continued
throughout the unit.
Back to Map
Teacher Page
Science Standards
C.12.7 : Evaluate articles and reports in the popular press, in scientific
journals, on television, and on the Internet, using criteria related to
accuracy, degree of error, sampling, treatment of data, and other
standards of experimental design.
E.12.3 : Using the science themes, describe theories of the origins and
evolution of the universe and solar system, including the earth system
as a part of the solar system and relate these theories and their
implications to the geologic time on earth.
Reading Standard
A.12.1: Use effective reading strategies to achieve their purposes in reading.
•Apply sophisticated word meaning and word analysis strategies to understand unfamiliar words.
•Gather information to help achieve understanding when the meaning of a text is unclear.
•Explain and evaluate the influence of format on the readability and meaning of a text.
Back to Map