Life Cycle Of a Star

By Weixiao Li
October, 2003

Introduction:

This project is for young astronomers who are interested in stars, and space. It will help you learn about how a star is born, and how it dies. If you want, you can use microsoft powerpoint, hyperstudio, microsoft word... whatever program you want to use for this research project.

Procedure:

Choose a source where you want to find information about. You can use either a internet or a book. If you can't find a book, then you can use the internet.
A: If you want to use the Internet, then go to a search engine, such as google, ask... whatever search engine you are comfortable.
Now type in key words like "Life cycle of a star, formation of a star, white dward, neutron star, black hole, supernova, and red giant. For each phrase or word, find at least 1 site about each topic.
Save all the information and copy the important stuff you need onto microsoft word or a word program.
Read the information. Print it if you need to.
When you are reading it, make sure you understand the main facts such as how a star is formed.
After you understand the key steps of the life cycle of a star, please feel free to choose any way to demonstrate what you learned after researching.
If you want to use a book, make sure you paraphrase and look up words in the dictionary if you don't understand it.
After the reading the information, reread too make sure you understand. After the third time, start taking notes.
If you are comfortable writing, I would recommend you write a 1-page to 2-page essay. If you are comfortable with computers, I would suggested a powerpoint presentation or hyper-studio about 10-15 pages covering all the steps of t he life cycle of a star.
Keep in mind that this project is to help you understand stars better- the main goal is to have a deeper understanding of stars, NOT to complete it as soon as possible.

Evaluation: The most important things you should learn when you are done:

How is a star born?
How does it generate so much heat?
How does a star die?
What happens when a star dies?
How old is an average star?
How is a supernova formed?
How is a white dwarf formed?

Conclusion: The concepts you should know when you are done:

What is a Black hole
What is a White Hole
What is a Wormhole
What is a Neutron star
What is a White Dwarf
Do you know what these pictures are? You should be able to name the objects in the picture and explain how they are formed after you are done with this project.