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Lesson Plan Resource Guide
SUNSPOTS Lesson Plan
Note: Worksheets and other documents referenced are also
included in the printed Lesson Plan Resource Guide.
Topic Area: The history of sunspot study, our current understanding, and research into
how sunspots are connected to other solar phenomena.
- How have humans studied and
understood sunspots throughout history?
- What do we currently know
about sunspots and their effect on the earth?
- Do visible sunspots seen on
the solar disk correlate with the areas of active regions seen in x-ray
- Describe how ancient and
modern cultures have studied and understood sunspots.
- Students can observe the
sun safely using simple equipment.
- Discuss and question why
and how sunspots and related solar activity affect us on the earth.
- Measure and compare the
areas of sunspots and x-ray emitting regions using graphs to show or disprove
- Present the results and
determinations for peer review and discuss the quality of research done by
students in class..
Grade Levels: Most appropriate for high school, grades 9-11
- Total class time is 5 class
periods; about 2 hours teacher preparation time, plus 1/2 hr to assemble
- History section: 30 for
minutes teacher preparation and Xeroxing. Approx. 1 period for students to
study the lesson pages and answer questions on the worksheet. Half a class
for solar observation.
- Modern Research Section: 30
minutes teacher preparation. 1.5 class periods for students to study the pages
and answer study questions, prepare research proposal worksheet, or do jigsaw
- Activity section: 1 hour
for teacher preparation. 2 class periods for students to make measurements and
graphs, and present results for class collaboration and/or discussion.
- Sunspots have fascinated
scientists for centuries, and have more recently been recognized as part of
the sun's constant activity that affects the earth's outer environment every
- Sunspots are regions of
very dense magnetic fields that may also be associated with areas producing
energetic x-rays in the sun's corona.
- If scientists can establish
that events in different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum are correlated,
this may help them understand the transfer of energy that heats the corona.
National Science Education Standards (NSES) Grades 9-12
- Science as inquiry
- Physical Science:
Interactions of energy and matter
- Earth and Space: Energy in
the earth system
- Perspectives: Natural and
- History and Nature of
AAAS (Project 2061 Benchmarks for Science Literacy)
- Scientific Enterprise
- Forces of Nature
- Patterns and Relationships
- Computation and estimation
National Math Standards
(National Council of Teachers of Mathematics)
- Patterns, Functions, and
- Data Analysis
- Geometry from an Algebraic
Internet connected computer with WWW browser program (e.g. Netscape,
Internet Explorer): 1 per 1-3 students. OR computers with browsers and CD-ROM
drive and Sunspots
Browsers should be Java-enabled, and optimally have RealMedia and
QuickTime player plug-ins. For help with installing plug-ins, see the lesson
- Student worksheets: 1 copy per student for those worksheets desired
(answer keys are included--see links in Assessment)
Dawn of Sun Science
-Modern Research section
Solar Research Proposal
-Modern research section
Research Data Log
Graphing Sheets: 1 per student for those sheets used
area vs. date
active area vs. date
vs. Sunspot area
- Plain graph paper if students are to draw and label their own
For sunspots observations
Binoculars or a telescope
Tripod or other stable mount with angle
Cardboard, duct tape, and/or cloth for shrouding the projection
Flat projection surface with paper for drawing, if desire
- Background content summaries
are provided as HTML documents that may be printed out.
Background I: History
and Modern Research
Background II: Research
- Please read the lesson pages
themselves, as they support the main points about solar science with careful
explanations and many illustrations. This provides a context for the discussion
of sunspots, which arise from quite complex causes. The lesson is in the folder
on the CD.
Computer set up:
- Reading at an 8th
grade level (glossary of new terms provided)
- Ability to plot points on a graph
- Ability to navigate through pages in a Web browser.
- Test a typical browser
setup for Java functionality and make sure the RealMedia clips and QuickTime
movie play. Get help from a technician for upgrades or installations if
necessary. All software should be available on the CD. Use the CD
help page for
instructions. Alternatively, the lesson
help page, accessed through help icons associated with the RealMedia and
QuickTime files, gives the same instructions, and access to software via the
- If using a CD copy of
- Download the folder called "SUNSPOTS" with the
lesson pages onto a local (i.e. your school's) server, and set up bookmarks
on the students' browsers to open the lesson.
- Otherwise, drag-and-drop the lesson folder to the hard drive of each
student computer and make appropriate bookmark.
- If using the lesson
directly from the Web, check on the download times for some pages, to estimate
the pace students can expect. Some alternatives for low-bandwidth sites are
described below, in Contingency Management.
- Instructors may wish to pick and
choose parts to cover or emphasize according to local frameworks and time
available. Students doing the
interactive research activity, they should cover the "Modern Research"
section ahead of time.
- Decide which parts of the
lesson and supporting materials will be completed on each day.
- If students will work in
teams, determine groupings and assignments. Measuring all 26 pairs of images
is tedious for a single person; divide the measuring of the images among group
members, or assign a different subset to each individual.
- Make assignment sheets,
listing the steps each student/group should complete, if you wish.
- Print and copy student
worksheets, and any parts of the lesson you wish to have students read off
line or before going to computers.
- Assemble apparatus for
sunspot viewing, using the materials above and guided by the illustrations on
page History.4. If possible, do a dry run, setting up the equipment and getting
the solar image on the viewing surface.
- Make up a lesson schedule
for each class, according to the activities chosen and the length and blocking
of class periods. Refer to Procedure for estimated times.
Student activities are numbered.
- Introduce the lesson and
the general subject of solar science. Hand out any paper materials such as
assignment sheets, worksheets, etc.
- Discuss the class's current
understandings of solar science and sunspots, using some or all of the
discussion questions below. Divide the class into working groups if
appropriate. (10-20 minutes)
At the computers, students view the History section and
complete the study questions.
Sunspot viewing. This depends on weather conditions, so it may have to be done
on another day. It can be repeated in about 20 minutes at intervals of
several days to show the changes in sunspots.
Assign teams to make sunspot observation drawings. Have students set up
apparatus, and help them get the sun in view, so that its image
appears on their screen. Demonstrate as needed.
- Have students record the location, shape and number of sunspots.
They should label their drawings with date and time. Never look at
the sun, either directly or through binoculars!
- Discuss and share general
knowledge of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum of the sun, solar phenomena and space weather
using the discussion questions (15 minutes)
- At the computers, students
should read the Modern Research section and play the interviews, answering the
study questions if desired. This section is longer and more dense. One
option is to assign a section of material to each group, to master and
teach the class, jigsaw fashion. (50 minutes)
- Afterward, students prepare
their own ideas for new solar research using the proposal worksheet. This is
also an opportunity for doing Web research and class discussion on their
ideas, if desired.
(30 minutes or longer)
- If the section has been
covered by jigsaw groups, have groups present their new knowledge to the class
using the Web pages or their own visual aids. (60 minutes)
- Have students view the first
page of the Activity section and the QuickTime movies. Discuss what the movies
show and students' view of what is happening, in light of the sections on the
sun's structure. (15 minutes)
- Introduce the motivation for
the activity and the concept of correlation. Illustrate the idea of establishing
correlation graphically with a real-life example, like the fact that frosts
correlate with colder weather, or the high correlation between smoking and lung
cancer. If the class will not be graphing the areas vs. time, you may want to
simulate this preliminary step on a blackboard or overhead so students can try predicting
what their plots might look like. (15 minutes)
- Assign the subset of the images or
image pairs to be measured by each student or group.
- At the Computers have
students read the rest of the Activity pages, starting with Activity 2 (Measure
Image Areas) and practice using the Java applet first. (30 minutes)
- Students then use the applet
to measure image areas and record their measurements. They will plot their
measurements using the computer and/or manually on sheets provided, or on their
own graph paper. (50 minutes)
- Students or groups discuss
their findings and present them to the group for instructor/peer evaluation and
discussion. (60 minutes)
- What is the sun's composition? How
big is it?
- What is the sun like inside?
- What do you think ancient
cultures, e.g. Egyptians, Mayan/Aztec, Greco-Roman, knew about the sun?
- Did they study the sun?
- Why would they think it was
important? Eskimos, for instance, do not have an agrarian society, and have not
produced the kind of elaborate sun-tracking schemes that the Mayans and Incas
had for timing their planting and harvesting.
- When do you think sunspots
- How would early scientists
have studied the sun?
- What instruments do you think
You may wish to start with an image of the sun from a textbook or some
familiar context like a magazine, asking students questions that hinge on
their understanding of the image.
- What is the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum? In what parts of the EM spectrum does the sun emit light?
- Do you think the sun is
changing? If students think the sun is changing, talk
about what changes they know of and their time periods, e.g. ~10 billion years
for burning up all its hydrogen, but ~28 days to rotate once, and ~1 day to
emit a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME).
- Does the sun have a
- What do you think causes
sunspots? What are they?
- How do you think what
happens on the sun might affect the earth: each year? Each week? Each day?
It may be that different students' or groups' resulting graphs look different.
Remember that a straight line is not necessarily expected, but the class should
reach some consensus on whether there is some correlation between the 2
quantities: a linear, or curved, but at least continuous functional
relationship. This can be an opportunity to discuss science processes and the
difference between scatter in the data and systematic errors. Discuss some possible reasons for differences among students' or groups'
- Different colors were
included in the x-ray areas
- The visible light sunspot areas have far
fewer pixels, and so are much more sensitive to small differences--1 pixel
more or less may be quite significant.
- The exact scale of the
x-ray image color scheme in counts/pixel is unknown. It may even be logarithmic. What would that look like on linear paper?
- Compare the depth of the x-ray corona, which extends far out into
space, with the small, finite thickness of the photosphere where sunspots are
located. The x-ray
disturbances seen in the images may have shapes and sizes that vary rapidly
especially near the edge of the solar disk.
- Is the pixel size on the
screen a convenient unit of measurement?
- Printed versions:
The History and Modern Research sections can be printed from the browser and
photocopied if students' access to computers is limited. In this case the
RealMedia interviews are not available, but they appear excerpted in the text,
and instructors may also show the images and RealMedia on a computer with a
- Parallel groups:
If the number of computers is fewer than 1 per 3 students, some students may
be engaged in writing activities or preparing presentations while others are
at the computers.
management for the research
activity: It's important
not to let students get bogged down here, and it can happen. Make sure
everyone practices using the Java applet. Self-debugging will be important.
You may want to halt the class for discussion during this time if several
groups seem to be having similar difficulties. Keep an eye out for students
who are losing data, not seeing points in the values lists, or points on their
plots. See the Background document on the
- Printing Activity
Results: Due to the nature of
Java applets, printing values tables and graphs can only be done by taking a
screen "snapshot." This can be done on many systems using a
"Print Screen" key if a printer is available. If not, the same
keystroke will often save the screen in a bitmap buffer for cropping in an
The following are included
with this Guide:
- Dawn of Sun
Science answer key
Scientist Qualifications answer key
- Student research proposals:
proposals might include:
- Need for research on the selected problem or question
- Determining appropriate observations to provide the needed data
- Planning the sequence of the
- Observation and data collection
- Representing the data--how it will be manipulated in images and/or
- Analysis and interpretation-how will analysis proceed to answer the
- A paper and pencil test
with multiple choice and short-answer questions is also available.
- Students present their
research results from the Activity section and compare them to those of other
teams or students. Presentations should include conclusions drawn from
analysis of their graphs, and an analysis of possible sources of
error in their processes.
- Class collaboration and
discussion may be used to develop a mock journal review for research results
and appropriate rubric.
There are numerous opportunities for students to do hands-on activities that
illustrate the physics of sunspots and help them visualize what is described in
these pages. Some suggestions:
- Making electromagnets. It's never
too early to introduce or reinforce the relationship between electricity
and magnetism. Any current of moving electrons, like a wire whose ends are
connected to the terminals of a battery, produces a magnetic field that
can be sensed with a compass.
- Field lines for a straight
wire are circles orthogonal to, and concentric with, the wire.
- If a current-carrying
wire is wound into a coil, the magnetic field is a dipole, and field
lines loop from north to south like the protruding solar flux loops
that create sunspots.
- Transfer some charge to a
metal ring, and place the ring on a spinning platform, like a record
turntable. This also produces a dipole field, albeit a very weak
one, given the currents involved.
- Use a strong U-magnet and
iron filings to create visible models of magnetic flux loops. Placing a sheet
of paper over the ends of the U magnet, students can pile iron filings
above and observe the dipole arc that forms between the two poles. The
filings form footprints around the ends that resemble the sunspot penumbra
- Convection demonstration
using instant miso soup in Pyrex or heavy glass containers and hairdryer.
Apply the heat from the hair dryer underneath to set up convection,
simulating the transfer of
heat from the radiation zone to the photosphere by the convection zone.
Question: Why is the motion of the fluid ordered into circulating
currents? Why is this an efficient way to transfer heat? (It
bypasses heat exchange between the particles within the flow, carrying heat
directly to the surface, where there is a phase difference from liquid to
- If you are using the Research
Proposal worksheet, students can do research on
the Web to get ideas and details for designing investigations. Some excellent Web
sites on solar science and space environments are listed in the bibliography
page. Here are more examples:
- Other Web sites:
Curriculum Coordinates (optional):
Social Sciences -
Cartesian representation of the algebraic form for straight lines, least
squares fit to a straight line, and simple statistics are appropriate for
coincident work in mathematics classes.
Meeting Individual Needs:
- This lesson may be appropriate for
advanced students in upper middle school. Parts may be applicable for lower
middle grades. This lesson was successfully tested in summer courses for 8th-9th
grade transition students.
- This lesson contains an applet that
requires controlled use of a mouse or other tracking device, which may be
difficult for students with motor-control disabilities.
- The history section
contains references to science in Mesoamerican, ancient Middle Eastern, and
Chinese cultures. These might serve as subjects for further research and
writing projects for language arts development.
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