The Building Blocks of the Universe

The scene lets the students explore two different environments and observe what state water exists as when there is an extreme difference in temperature. As such, students will appreciate the impact of availability of water on the survival of living things, when water is a liquid or frozen.

# Learning objectives

1: To understand that atoms are the building blocks of the universe.{.info}

2: To describe the order of size of matter in the solar system.{.info}

3: To understand the scale of what can be built from atoms.{.info}

# A Galaxy is Born{.objective .objective1}

Students will learn about how the universe came into existence after the Big Bang. They will be asked to explore the scene and observe the solar system. They will be asked to think about the scale of the galaxy as the solar system makes up a small part of it.

# All That is Matter{.objective .objective2}

Students will learn that atoms make up all matter in the universe, in different sizes. They will appreciate and gain a sense of scale of the solar system, relative to the Earth and an organism living on Earth. Students will be asked to explore the scene and this time observe the solar system and compare it to Earth and the tree on the Earth. Again they will be asked to appreciate the scale of the tree on Earth, and how it is very different in size to Earth.

# Building Blocks{.objective .objective3}

Students will learn that living things are made of small building blocks called cells. They will be asked to explore the scene and continue beyond the cell. They will observe how atoms make up the components of a cell. They will be asked to consider the time scale it took for the universe to form and expand, and whether their small size was a factor.

# Teacher Resources

**Download Teacher Notes**

[](https://data.avncloud.com/activities/794365/files/The%20Building+Blocks+of+the+Universe+Teacher+Notes+1.pdf?date=1677669798&size=1269121&md5=fea5e5bbed64da2c9f9e025188685105)

**Student Quiz Answers Document**

[](https://data.avncloud.com/activities/794372/files/The%20Building+Blocks+of+the+Universe+Teacher+Notes+2.pdf?date=1677671133&size=625821&md5=cfbf0d3308e70ae5cee3783829425811)

**Download Student Quiz Document**

[](https://data.avncloud.com/activities/794373/files/The%20Building+Blocks+of+the+Universe+Teacher+Notes+3.pdf?date=1677671219&size=95615&md5=de5ff3691555771d42dce9cb6fc5dfc9)