Big Bang Lesson Plan: Earth’s Place in the Universe

Grade Levels: 6-8, 9-12

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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Big Bang, and supports the standard of constructing an explanation of the Big Bang theory. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Ask students:

  • What do you already know about the Big Bang?
  • What do you want to know more about?

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

  • Read the description on the Big Bang topic page.
  • Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding. 
  • Assign Related Reading. Have students read one of the articles, then partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Assign the Big Bang Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about the Big Bang while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

  • Make-a-Movie: Produce a tutorial explaining what Earth was like before, during, and after the Big Bang.
  • Make-a-Map: Make a concept map identifying and explaining key pieces of evidence supporting the Big Bang Theory.
  • Creative Coding: Code a digital museum exhibit featuring artifacts and figures to represent the development of the Big Bang Theory.
  • Primary Source Activity: Examine images taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, then cite details to answer the accompanying questions.

More to Explore 

Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of Earth’s place in the universe with these topics: Relativity, Dark Matter, Black Holes, and Particle Accelerators.

Teacher Support Resources:

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    Filed as:  6-8, 9-12, Big Bang, BrainPOP, Lesson Plan, Science, Space, Teacher Resources