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6th grade · Science · Unit 4 of 10

Stars & the Universe

How stars shine, live and die, and how the universe began.

What your child practices

Practices how fusion in the sun's core makes the energy that reaches Earth, the life cycles of stars and the elements they make, and the evidence for the Big Bang: galaxies moving apart, leftover microwave radiation and the mix of elements.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 6.2 · how stars form, and evidence for the structure and history of the universe

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A star's color shows its surface temperature: blue stars are hottest, red stars are coolest.
  2. Energy from the sun reaches Earth as light and other radiation.
  3. After the sun, the nearest star is about 4 light-years away.
  4. The cosmic microwave background is leftover radiation from the early universe.

Example: A blue star and a red star: which is hotter? Color shows surface temperature. Blue is hottest; red is coolest. Answer: the blue star

Stars & the Universe in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 4 of 10 in 6th grade Science, after Stars, Galaxies & the Universe and before The Rock Cycle.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Light from distant galaxies is shifted toward red. This shows they are…

    • standing still
    • moving away from us
    • moving toward us
    • getting hotter

  2. Question 2

    Stars are born in…

    • comets
    • clouds of gas and dust called nebulas
    • the oceans of planets
    • black holes

  3. Question 3

    A star's color tells us its…

    • number of planets
    • name
    • surface temperature
    • distance from Earth

  4. Question 4

    Sunspots are…

    • moons of the sun
    • planets in front of the sun
    • cooler, darker areas on the sun's surface
    • holes in the sun

  5. Question 5

    A light-year is a measure of…

    • brightness
    • distance
    • time
    • mass

  6. Question 6

    Spectra of starlight let scientists find a star's…

    • name
    • exact number of planets
    • chemical makeup
    • age in days

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