Life Cycle of Stars

>>Click on any of the images to find where I got them from.<< 

Physically interacting with materials, helps to ingrain ideas and concepts into students' minds. I try to have a physical activity for most of the concepts I introduce in my science class.
                           
While reading about star life cycles and looking at pictures of stars in their different life cycles is beautiful, I was looking for something more. Something that would get and keep my students' attention. Enter in...Life Cycle of Stars Balloon Activity.

This image is one of the best I've found. It shows a variety of stars. The only problem I have is that students don't realize it is a cycle that really has no beginning or end.

More like this

I came across Star Cycle with Balloons on the Communicating Astronomy website.

This activity is a lot of fun!!! But it didn't teach everything I wanted to teach and it didn't have all the resources I need. I've made my own activity, presentation and worksheet that you can download it on my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

Here is a short description of the activity -
          Students are given colored balloons with Jellybeans inside. The balloons represent different colored stars. The Jellybeans represent the different thigns the stars turn into at the end of their life cycle. Students go through the life cycle of a star by adding air to their star/balloon as it ages. Eventually their star/balloon will turn into a Red Giant and go Supernova or turn into a White Dwarf. This requires the teacher to pop the star/balloon, which brings lots of squeals and excitement. Then their star baby turns into a Black Hole, Neutron Star or White Dwarf. It's lots of fun to ask the students, "Who turned into a Black Hole today?" Students are good at remembering who turned into what.

Excerpt of Teacher Explanation of Activity

One of the Slides in my Life Cycle of Stars Presentation (all slides include links to picture sources)

Star Life Cycle Worksheet

When I teach, I try to use as many learning modalities as possible (Here is a short article on a few different modalities on Education.com. If I can bombard students with information in as many ways as possible, I can almost guarantee something will stick!

Kinesthetic and Tactile learners tend to need physical activities. For this activity, blowing up the balloon and then seeing and holding the remnants will help students remember the stages.

Visual learners tend to need visual input to understand a concept. During the activity, I show images of Supernovas, White Stars, etc. This helps reinforce the different types of stars and objects that we are discussing.

Auditory learners prefer hearing what to do and listening to information. While I conduct this activity, I continually explain all parts of the activity orally. I ask questions of the students and engage them in conversation. This helps all students to pay attention.

Here are some of the remnants of the star activity

I hope you have fun teaching science!!