Background/ Project Prompt:
For this project my group and I were tasked with creating a model to demonstrate our understanding of either the star life cycle, how fusion happens and/or how photons are created. We were given a learning target at the beginning of the project to help guide so we could adequately exhibit our understanding of cosmic chemistry.
Board Game Model
After a bit of discussion and brainstorming my group and I decided to model our understanding. Upon deciding this we reflected on games we liked to play and a game that came up in our discussion was "The Game of Life". We decided to model our game after that game following the life cycle of atom. In our game you play as an atom trying to escape the sun to reach the earth. To move spaces in our game, you roll a pair of dice to advance and forward the number of spaces you roll. Different spaces will tell you to either move forward or move backwards or maybe take a card
Content/ Terms
Subatomic particles - particles smaller than that of atom usually meaning protons, neutrons and electrons.
Fission - When the nucleus of an atom is split and so the atom becomes a different atom with a beta particle, alpha particle or gamma rays given off.
Fusion - When two atoms collide and combine to form a bigger atom that is the sum of their masses, electrons and protons. This process can release a lot of energy.
Radioactive Decay - The process in which an atom's nucleus loses mass due to instability via radiation particles.
Half-Life - Certain atoms are unstable and only last for a certain amount of time, this can span from a few seconds to a few million years.
Nuclear Transmutation - The combining of the nucleuses of two atoms to create a new atom. In this process the number of protons combines as well as the number of neutrons.
Radiation - A wave frequency at which light moves subatomic particles.
Nucleosynthesis - the creation of a Hydrogen atom not created from other atoms.
Alpha particle - a particle characterized by an He-4 nucleus with two protons and two neutrons that breaks off from an atom during alpha decay.
Beta particle - a particle lost in beta decay, a beta particle is a high speed electron emitted by the nucleus.
Gamma rays - high energy radiation that is joined by the loss of a nuclear particle which is characterized as a y-ray.
Photon - Particle of light.
3.0*10^8 m/s - Equation of the Speed of Light
Sunspot - changes of the sun's magnetic field on its surface causing a disruption in convection currents.
Convection Current - The rising and falling of gas on the sun's surface
Reflection
In this project I tried my best to take initiative and take a leadership role despite falling short of that goal many times. My team members and I had a few disagreements on how we thought the board game should work and we also had to deal with a few absences along the way which made it even harder to work because we had difficulty deciding on ideas when not everyone is there.On the other hand in this project we were able to convey our model well using a board game to explain the chemistry behind photons and their journey to Earth.