LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET #1

Name____________________________________ Section _________________ Score___________

Subject: EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE
Teacher: Ms. Vivialyn B. Padolina Date: June 21 - onwards, 2018
Type of Activity: Please check the appropriate box. Individual Group Concept Notes
8
Others: _______ *
Activity Title

The Age, Composition and Structure of the Universe

Learning Targets

The students will be able to:

1. Describe the structure and composition of the Universe

Learning Concepts

Structure, Composition, and Age

 The universe as we currently know it comprises all space and time, and all matter & energy in it.
 It is made of 4.6% baryonic matter (“ordinary” matter consisting of protons, electrons, and
neutrons: atoms, planets, stars, galaxies, nebulae, and other bodies), 24% cold dark matter
(matter that has gravity but does not emit light), and 71.4% dark energy (a source of antigravity)
 Dark matter can explain what may be holding galaxies together for the reason that the low total
mass is insufficient for gravity alone to do so while dark energy can explain the observed
accelerating expansion of the universe.
 Hydrogen, helium, and lithium are the three most abundant elements.
 Stars - the building block of galaxies born out of clouds of gas and dust in galaxies. Instabilities
within the clouds eventually results into gravitational collapse, rotation, heating up, and
transformation to a proto star-the core of a future star as thermonuclear reactions set in.
 Stellar interiors are like furnaces where elements are synthesized or combined/fused together.
Most stars such as the Sun belong to the so-called “main sequence stars.” In the cores of such
stars, hydrogen atoms are fused through thermonuclear reactions to make helium atoms.
Massive main sequence stars burn up their hydrogen faster than smaller stars. Stars like our Sun
burnup hydrogen in about 10 billion years
 The remaining dust and gas may end up as they are or as planets, asteroids, or other bodies in
the accompanying planetary system.
 A galaxy is a cluster of billions of stars and clusters of galaxies form superclusters. In between
the clusters is practically an empty space. This organization of matter in the universe suggests
that it is indeed clumpy at a certain scale. But at a large scale, it appears homogeneous and
isotropic.
 Based on recent data, the universe is 13.8 billion years old. The diameter of the universe is
 possibly infinite but should be at least 91 billion light-years (1 light-year = 9.4607 × 1012 km). Its
density is 4.5 x 10-31 g/cm3.
- The Universe is at least 13.8 billion of years old and the Earth/ Solar System at least 4.5-
4.6 billions of years old. But how large exactly is a billion? How long will it take them to
spend 1 billion pesos if they spend 1 peso per second.
- 1 billion/(60 s/min*60 min/hr*24 hr/day*365days/year) = 32 years
-
Hydrogen and Helium as the most abundant elements in the universe. Having the lowest mass, these are
the first elements to be formed in the Big Bang Model of the Origin of the Universe.
 A star's energy comes from combining light elements into heavier elements by fusion, or
“nuclear burning” (nucleosynthesis).
 In small stars like the sun, H burning is the fusion of 4 H nuclei (protons) into a He nucleus (2
protons + 2 neutrons).
 Forming He from H gives off lots of energy (i.e. a natural hydrogen bomb).
 Nucleosynthesis requires very high T. The minimum T for H fusion is 5x106oC.

Exercises: GIVE IT A TRY

I. Identification Test
1. This are the two most abundant elements in the universe. Having the lowest mass, these are the
first elements to be formed in the Big Bang Model of the Origin of the Universe.
2. The building block of galaxies born out of clouds of gas and dust in galaxies.
3. Matter that has gravity but does not emit light and it is also one of the composition of the
universe
4. It is a cluster of billions of stars
5. It is one of the composition of the universe that responsible for the source of anti-gravity; a
force that counteracts gravity and causes the universe to expand.
II. Enumeration

Direction: Enumerate the Composition of the Universe with their percentage

1. _________________________ ________%
2. _________________________ ________%
3. _________________________ ________%