![]() What are good phenomenon to anchor an investigation? They also develop the skills to communicate their findings with others in a more concise and clear manner.Ĭlassroom teachers refer to these phenomena and design problems as anchors. When students investigate compelling natural phenomena or work on meaningful design problems, they develop a greater understanding of the world around them. In engineering, it involves designing solutions to problems that arise from phenomena, and using explanations of phenomena to design solutions.Įssentially, phenomena are the context for the work of both the scientist and the engineer. The goal of building knowledge in science courses is to develop general ideas, based on evidence, that can explain and predict phenomena. They are what can be experienced or documented. Phenomena are NOT the explanations or scientific terminology behind what is happening. A sunburn, vision loss, and the culverts on the family ranch flooding the roadway each winter are specific examples of something in the world that is happening-an event or a specific example of a general process. Natural phenomena are observable events that occur in the universe and that we can use our science knowledge to explain or predict. ![]() Anchoring the development of general science ideas in investigations of phenomena helps students build more usable and generative knowledge. As long as a galaxy is massive enough to hold onto that material - again, continue to be thankful for gravity - those heavy elements get incorporated into future generations of stars and solar systems.Teaching science ideas in general, the process of photosynthesis for example, may work for some students, but often it leads to decontextualized knowledge that students are unable to apply when relevant. ![]() Meanwhile, the corpses, which may become neutron stars, can then merge, producing the majority of the heaviest stable elements on our periodic table. ![]() The most massive stars implode after only a few million years, and the ensuing runaway fusion reaction destroys the star and blows the outer layers, full of heavy elements, into interstellar space. These ultimate death throes of the Universe's most massive stars take us all the way up the periodic table. SimonnetĦ.) Be thankful for cosmic cataclysms: supernovae and neutron star mergers. NSF / LIGO / Sonoma State University / A. Merging neutron stars create the majority of ultra-heavy elements in the Universe. gravitational waves emitted from the collision, while the narrow beams are the jets of gamma rays that shoot out just seconds after the gravitational waves (detected as a gamma-ray burst by astronomers). Here are ten phenomena that made it all possible, and ten reasons to give thanks.Īrtist’s illustration of two merging neutron stars. At a huge number of different points in our Universe’s history, the laws of nature came together in such a way to enable our existence, and to allow us to look back today, 13.8 billion years later, with thankfulness in our hearts. This wasn’t guaranteed from first principles, but simply happens to be. Here and now, it’s possible for us to exist, and to exist as long as our natural lifespans will allow us. The biggest unifier that all human beings have in common, that we all exist on the same world and in the same Universe, is never on display better than today: American Thanksgiving. BlakesleeĮvery day, we have a choice whether we take our lives, our existence, our freedoms, and our moments for granted, or whether we express appreciation and gratitude for the good things that exist. NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team (STScI / AURA) J. The Universe is an amazing place, and the way it came to be today is something very much worth being.
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