BIG HISTORY 1 (FIRST YEAR EXPERIENCE 1 – 4FYE1)
Ask the big questions about our Universe, our planet, life, and humanity. Explore 13.8 billion years of the
past, but don’t stop there. How does Big History help us understand our present and inform our future? Where do
we stand in the “Big History”? Where is GOD in the “Big History”?
OVERVIEW OF MODULE 2
Before stars existed, the Universe was relatively cool and uniform. Gravity brought together individual
hydrogen and helium atoms to form gas clouds. Eventually, these got so dense that they ignited as stars.
Groups of stars formed galaxies. Galaxies formed galaxy clusters. Galaxy clusters formed superclusters. From
that point on, the Universe had billions and billions of long-lasting energy sources.
Stars are very hungry. Burning at incredible levels, cranked to the extreme, a star will eventually
consume all the hydrogen that powers its nuclear fusion. Then the star changes dramatically. The hot center
shrinks. It grows even hotter. This intense heat and pressure creates other nuclear reactions, producing new,
heavier elements—carbon, silicon, oxygen, and others, until it creates iron. Iron is heavy, highly stable, and
cannot be fused further.
A catastrophic event begins. Lacking the outpouring of energy from its core, the star collapses. Its
many outer layers fall inward, in an enormous, unbelievable avalanche of matter crumbling due to the pull of
gravity from the dense core. They slam with unimaginable force into the star's iron center, creating new
elements. These new elements bounce off the iron core, hurtling outward into space.
This is, in effect, the massive explosion and death of a star—a supernova—and the birth of new
elements out into the cosmos.
As the first stars died, new stars formed from the clouds of atoms left behind. The remaining debris
orbited around these newborn stars and eventually became planets. With much greater chemical complexity
than a star, rocky planets like Earth are places where remarkable things happen.
This module will also explore the process of how planets form. Planets can be large and made of
gasses, or smaller and rocky, like our Earth. The formation process determines the chemical composition of
our planet but also can result in the Goldilocks Conditions that enable life on Earth to exist.
Summary
It is only in the death of a dying star that we see temperatures high enough to form the chemical elements
found all around us today.
THINKING CONCEPTUALLY
How many of the objects within
the space immediately around
you are born out of the death of
star?
https://www.oerproject.com/OER-Media/Videos/SBH/Unit-3/3-1-Creation-of-Complex-Elements/ThresholdNew-Chemical?PageId=&Id=8584&share=link
Purpose
This short introduction to Threshold 3, New Chemical Elements, quickly introduces the threshold, setting the
stage for the rest of the concepts of the topic.
Preview
Stars are very hungry. Burning at incredible levels, cranked to the extreme, a star will eventually consume all
the hydrogen that powers its nuclear fusion. Then the star changes dramatically. The hot center shrinks. It
grows even hotter. This intense heat and pressure creates other nuclear reactions, producing new, heavier
elements—carbon, silicon, oxygen, and others, until it creates iron. Iron is heavy, highly stable, and cannot be
fused further.
A catastrophic event begins. Lacking the outpouring of energy from its core, the star collapses. Its many outer
layers fall inward, in an enormous, unbelievable avalanche of matter crumbling due to the pull of gravity from
the dense core. They slam with unimaginable force into the star's iron center, creating new elements. These
new elements bounce off the iron core, hurtling outward into space.
This is, in effect, the massive explosion and death of a star—a supernova—and the birth of new elements out
into the cosmos.
Key Ideas—Factual
Use these questions and prompts at the appropriate stopping points to check in with the students and ensure
they are getting the key concepts covered in the video.
1. 1:04 What are the Goldilocks Conditions for new chemical elements?
answer: Very high temperatures and aging and dying stars.
2. 2:10 What is a supernova?
answer: It is the result of an explosion created when a massive star dies. The result is so big and
so hot, it can be much, much brighter than the stars around it.