We know stars are giant balls of plasma, so why are they drawn as pointy star shapes? The video solves this mystery through an explanation of how lenses work both in our eyes and in telescopes. It also discusses the proper way to color a star.

Concepts

stars, light waves, diffraction

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Before the video, have scholars each draw a star on the board and discuss if they are all the same or not
• Remind pupils not to shine a laser light in eyes, as the lasers the scientists used were special and did not cause harm

Classroom Considerations

• Assumes some prior knowledge of the order of colors in the visible light spectrum

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Provides closed captioning in 13 languages
• Short video length helps maintain learners' attention

Cons

• None

Common Core

RST.9-10.4 RST.11-12.4