天文學：高中課程（第二學期）- 黑洞與大爆炸

This class will cover the basics of Astronomy second semester according to the curriculum put forth by the state of Texas.
Topics include: 
Week 1: The Death of a Star and review of first semester-
Week 2:Pulsars In this week we will cover the discovery of Pulsars and we will discuss Neutron Stars.
Week 3: Special Relativity-This week we will look at Einstein's theory of Relativity and focus on special relativity. We will solve a time dilation problem and look at time paradoxes.
Week 4: General Relativity- This week is the second part of our Relativity lesson with a look at General Relativity. We will look at videos of gravitational waves and we will discuss the concepts of spacetime and the nature of gravity.
Week 5: The Milky Way- We will learn the parts of our galaxy and we will be able to draw a diagram of our galaxy.
     - activities include drawing a scale model of the solar system
Week 6: Galaxies- This week we will look at different types of galaxies and how we classify them. We will pay a visit to the Galaxy Zoo where students can become student scientists by classifying a galaxy.
Week 8:Dark Matter- In this lesson we will try to figure out what the mysterious substance of Dark Matter is and why we believe it exists. We will look at videos and discuss how we might detect Dark Matter.
Week 8: Expansion of the Universe- We will talk about Edwin Hubble and how we know the universe is expanding. Students can map the expansion and calculate the Hubble constant.
Week 9: Dark Energy- We will look at the mysterious force driving the expansion of the universe and students will speculate on what that might be.
Week 10  Cosmology and the Shape of the Universe- Students will make models that illustrate the possible shapes of the universe.
Week 11: Astrobiology-Does life exist outside of our solar system? Students will calculate the Drake equation.
Week 12: History of Space Travel- in this class we will read about the beginnings of the space program and will build a timeline of the events.
Week 13: The International Space Station- In this class we will look at life on the ISS and students will have the opportunity to build a model of the space station.
Week 14: Colonization of Space- Students will get to design their own space colony as we discuss what it would take to live somewhere else in the solar system.
Week 15: Time travel- In this class we will discuss the possibilities of time travel. We will look at examples and tackle paradoxes that might occur.
Week 16: Review and Final


This class will be highly interactive and students will be encouraged to participate and ask questions. Class will begin with a warm up and an opportunity for the students to be creative.Then there will be a discussion where students will have the chance to interact with each other and myself. Finally,  at the end of each class there will be a review game to help students master the material.
No prior knowledge of Astronomy is necessary.