Week 8: Origins and the Universe

 What did you do in lab today?

In lab today, we learned about the Origin of the Universe, specifically around the Big Bang and different misconceptions around it. One misconception is that the Big Bang created our entire universe and that it was an explosion. We also learned about stars, the life cycle of stars, the origin of the earth, how the earth formed, galaxies, and black holes. We learned about these through different presentations. Black holes are very dense and nothing, not even light, can escape from them. 

What was the big question?

The big question this week was around the timeline and origin of the universe. Everything we were learning about, such as the life cycle of stars, the origin of the earth, the earth formation, galaxies, and black holes all tie together of the big phenomena of the origin of the universe.

What did you learn in Thursday's discussion? 

In Thursday's discussion, I learned that water rotates clockwise in one hemisphere, and on the other hemisphere, it rotates the other way. On the equator, it does not rotate. I learned that the Big Bang was more of an expansion rather than an explosion. The universe was created around 13.8 billion years ago. I learned about the different universe eras such as the gut era, the planck era, and the era of nuclei. I learned a lot about stars. I learned that the sun formed from a stellar nebula, which is dust and debris, and is most likely from a star that went supernova. I learned how stars directly relate to the periodic table and the formation of it from helium and hydrogen. I learned that there are over trillions and trillions of galaxies. 

Pressbook:

- What did you learn?

I learned more in depth about the big bang. I learned that before the big bang, there was nothing at all. I learned that everything was so small in a subatomic particle that was billions and billions of times smaller than an atom. Everything, like space, time, and particles were created in this small fraction of a second. I also learned that all of the stars begin as formations and clouds of gas and dust that are called nebulae. These particles attract to each other and make the masses bigger. 

- What was most helpful?

The videos that were linked in this chapter were the most helpful to me. I think these gave me even better ideas of the concepts we are investigating. 

- What do you need more information on?

I would like to learn more about the earth's atmosphere. If there is no definite edge to the earth, why does it look like a perfect sphere from space?  

- What questions, concerns, and/or comments do you have?

I can't remember if we talked about this, but after seeing the super moon on Thursday, it has really made me wonder. If the distance of the moon from earth does not get closer, rather it is moving away slowly, then why and how does the moon sometimes look this big? It makes it look like it is really close to the earth.