# data[].attributes.headline
E&S 2: Students should be able to explore a scientific model to illustrate the origin of the universe.

# data[].attributes.subject
E&S 2: Students should be able to explore a scientific model to illustrate the origin of the universe.

# data[].attributes.headline
What Action Verbs used and what Key Skills are Developed?

# data[].attributes.subject
What Action Verbs used and what Key Skills are Developed?

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Why The Big Bang Theory is our best guess about how the universe began.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Big Bang Theory explains how the universe began with an infinitely hot and dense single point that inflated to form the ever-expanding cosmos we see today.

# data[].attributes.headline
Powerpoint Slide explaining the activity and its relevance to The Big Bang

# data[].attributes.subject
Powerpoint Slide explaining the activity and its relevance to The Big Bang

# data[].attributes.headline
Video that shows and explains the procedure for the Visual Aid activity that shows the Expansion of the universe and the galaxies and stars in it.

# data[].attributes.subject
Video that shows and explains the procedure for the Visual Aid activity that shows the Expansion of the universe and the galaxies and stars in it.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hack This - Big Bang Simulation with a Balloon

# data[].attributes.headline
In what order did the event's happen in the Universe's Expansion?

# data[].attributes.subject
In what order did the event's happen in the Universe's Expansion?

# data[].attributes.headline
2. What Evidence supports the theory of The Big Bang?

# data[].attributes.subject
2. What Evidence supports the theory of The Big Bang?

# data[].attributes.headline
Powerpoint slide Providing Evidence for The Big Bang and the Expansion of The Universe, we further looked into these through video

# data[].attributes.subject
Powerpoint slide Providing Evidence for The Big Bang and the Expansion of The Universe, we further looked into these through video

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Additional research to back up the Big Bang Theory

# data[].attributes.headline
Article that explains that evidence scientists have found the supports the theory of The Big Bang

# data[].attributes.subject
Article that explains that evidence scientists have found the supports the theory of The Big Bang

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Almost all astronomers agree on the theory of the Big Bang, that the entire Universe is spreading apart, with distant galaxies speeding away from us in all directions. Run the clock backwards to 13.8 billion years ago, and everything in the Cosmos started out as a single point in space. In an instant, everything expanded outward from that location, forming the energy, atoms and eventually the stars and galaxies we see today. But to call this concept merely a theory is to misjudge the overwhelming amount of evidence.

There are separate lines of evidence, each of which independently points towards this as the origin story for our Universe. The first came with the amazing discovery that almost all galaxies are moving away from us.

In 1912, Vesto Slipher calculated the speed and direction of "spiral nebulae" by measuring the change in the wavelengths of light coming from them. He realized that most of them were moving away from us. We now know these objects are galaxies, but a century ago astronomers thought these vast collections of stars might actually be within the Milky Way.

In 1924, Edwin Hubble figured out that these galaxies are actually outside the Milky Way. He observed a special type of variable star that has a direct relationship between its energy output and the time it takes to pulse in brightness. By finding these variable stars in other galaxies, he was able to calculate how far away they were. Hubble discovered that all these galaxies are outside our own Milky Way, millions of light-years away.

So, if these galaxies are far, far away, and moving quickly away from us, this suggests that the entire Universe must have been located in a single point billions of years ago. The second line of evidence came from the abundance of elements we see around us.

In the earliest moments after the Big Bang, there was nothing more than hydrogen compressed into a tiny volume, with crazy high heat and pressure. The entire Universe was acting like the core of a star, fusing hydrogen into helium and other elements.

This is known as Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. As astronomers look out into the Universe and measure the ratios of hydrogen, helium and other trace elements, they exactly match what you would expect to find if the entire Universe was once a really big star.

Line of evidence number 3: cosmic microwave background radiation. In the 1960s, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson were experimenting with a 6-meter radio telescope, and discovered a background radio emission that was coming from every direction in the sky - day or night. From what they could tell, the entire sky measured a few degrees above absolute zero.

Theories predicted that after a Big Bang, there would have been a tremendous release of radiation. And now, billions of years later, this radiation would be moving so fast away from us that the wavelength of this radiation would have been shifted from visible light to the microwave background radiation we see today.

The final line of evidence is the formation of galaxies and the large scale structure of the cosmos. About 10,000 years after the Big Bang, the Universe cooled to the point that the gravitational attraction of matter was the dominant form of energy density in the Universe. This mass was able to collect together into the first stars, galaxies and eventually the large scale structures we see across the Universe today.

These are known as the 4 pillars of the Big Bang Theory. Four independent lines of evidence that build up one of the most influential and well-supported theories in all of cosmology. But there are more lines of evidence. There are fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background radiation, we don't see any stars older than 13.8 billion years, the discoveries of dark matter and dark energy, along with how the light curves from distant supernovae.

So, even though it's a theory, we should regard it the same way that we regard gravity, evolution and general relativity. We have a pretty good idea of what's going on, and we've come up with a good way to understand and explain it. As time progresses we'll come up with more inventive experiments to throw at. We'll refine our understanding and the theory that goes along with it.

Most importantly, we can have confidence when talking about what we know about the early stages of our magnificent Universe and why we understand it to be true.

Podcast (audio): Download (Duration: 5:21 - 4.9MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Podcast (video): Download (100.3MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Almost all astronomers agree on the theory of the Big Bang, that the entire Universe is spreading apart, with distant galaxies speeding away from us in all directions. Run the clock backwards to 13.8 billion years ago, and everything in the Cosmos started out as a single point in space.

# data[].attributes.headline
Powerpoint slide that talks about the timeline of events in the Expansion of the Universe

# data[].attributes.subject
Powerpoint slide that talks about the timeline of events in the Expansion of the Universe

# data[].attributes.headline
Image used to show the main events in the timeline of The Expansion of the Universe. This photo is good as it shows the size of the celestial bodies in relation to the time.

# data[].attributes.subject
Image used to show the main events in the timeline of The Expansion of the Universe. This photo is good as it shows the size of the celestial bodies in relation to the time.

# data[].attributes.headline
Collaborative Planning Document that explains the learning outcome and the understandings, skills and values that comes with it

# data[].attributes.subject
Collaborative Planning Document that explains the learning outcome and the understandings, skills and values that comes with it

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The beginning of the universe, for beginners - Tom Whyntie

# data[].attributes.body
This reflection talks about the ways to engage students in class, many of the ways talked about are used in the lesson plan

# data[].attributes.headline
Video that provides evidence in the form as a visual aid, this is used to back up The Big Bang Theory

# data[].attributes.subject
Video that provides evidence in the form as a visual aid, this is used to back up The Big Bang Theory

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Learning Physics_Evidence for the Big Bang Theory

# data[].attributes.headline
Worksheet where students explain the Big Bang Theory and provide evidence for it

# data[].attributes.subject
Worksheet where students explain the Big Bang Theory and provide evidence for it

# data[].attributes.headline
Reading that talks about the timeline of the main events that happened in The Big Bang and The Expansion of The Universe

# data[].attributes.subject
Reading that talks about the timeline of the main events that happened in The Big Bang and The Expansion of The Universe

# data[].attributes.headline
Reading that talks about the evidence used for the Big Bang Theory

# data[].attributes.subject
Reading that talks about the evidence used for the Big Bang Theory

# data[].attributes.headline
This document contains the main key skills that the students will develop in the lesson, how they will develop in the class and why they are important in science

# data[].attributes.subject
This document contains the main key skills that the students will develop in the lesson, how they will develop in the class and why they are important in science

# data[].attributes.headline
Primary School learning outcomes, indicates the prior knowledge the students have on the topic.

# data[].attributes.subject
Primary School learning outcomes, indicates the prior knowledge the students have on the topic.

# data[].attributes.headline
video explaining the timeline of events in a way that will help visual learners

# data[].attributes.subject
video explaining the timeline of events in a way that will help visual learners