Cosmos Episode 6 Viewing Worksheet

 The most effective educators know they must vary their teaching style in order to accommodate all types of learners. One fun way to do this that students always seem to like is to show videos or have a movie day. A great science based Fox television series, "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey", will keep the students not only entertained but also learning as they follow along on the adventures of affable host Neil deGrasse Tyson. He makes the complicated science topics accessible for all learners.

Below are questions that can be copy and pasted into a worksheet for use during or after the showing of episode 6 of Cosmos, entitled "Deeper Deeper Deeper Still", to assess students' learning. It can also be used by the students as a sort of guided note taking worksheet during the video to jot down the main ideas. You are free to copy and use this worksheet as you feel necessary to best fit your class.

Cosmos Episode 6 Worksheet                            Name:___________________

Directions: Answer the questions as you watch episode 6 of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

1.  About how many atoms does Neil deGrasse Tyson say that he’s made up of?

2. How many hydrogen and oxygen atoms are in one molecule of water?

3.  Why do the water molecules move faster when the sun hit them?

4.  What has to happen to the water molecules before they can evaporate?

5. How long have tardigrades been living on Earth?

6. What are the “holes” in the moss called that take in carbon dioxide and “exhale” oxygen?

7. What does a plant need in order to break water into hydrogen and oxygen?

8. Why is photosynthesis the “ultimate green energy”?

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9. How long can a tardigrade go without water?

10. When did the first flowering plants evolve?

11. What did Charles Darwin conclude about the orchid based on his idea of Natural Selection?

12. How much of Madagascar’s rain forests have been destroyed?

13. What is the name of the nerve that is stimulated when we smell something?

14. Why do certain scents trigger memories?

15. How does the number of atoms in every breath we take compare to all the stars in all the known galaxies?

16. What idea about nature was first expressed by Thales?

17.  What was the name of the ancient Greek philosopher who came up with the idea of atoms?

18. What is the only element that is flexible enough to create different structures necessary to sustain life?

19. How did Neil deGrasse Tyson explain that the boy did not really touch the girl?

20. How many protons and electrons does an atom of gold have?

21.  Why is the Sun so hot?

22. What is the “ash” in the Sun’s nuclear furnace?

23. How are heavier elements, like iron, made?

24. How much distilled water is in the neutrino trap?

25. Why did neutrinos reach the Earth 3 hours before anyone knew of the Supernova 1987A?

26. What law of Physics made it possible for Neil deGrasse Tyson not to flinch when the red ball came swinging back at his face?

27. How did Wolfgang Pauli explain the “breaking” of the law of conservation of energy in radioactive isotopes?

28.  Why can we not go further back than 15 minutes into January 1 on the “cosmic calendar”?

29. About what size was the universe when it was a trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second old?