Exoplanet Science in the Classroom: Learning Activities for an Introductory Physics Course

Abstract

Discovery of planets outside our solar system, known as extra-solar planets or exoplanets for short, has been at the forefront of astronomical research for over 25 years. Reports of new discoveries have almost become routine; however, the excitement surrounding them has not. Amazingly, as groundbreaking as exoplanet science is, the basic physics is quite accessible to first-year physics students, as discussed in previous TPT articles. To further illustrate this point, we developed an iOS application that generates synthetic exoplanet data to provide students and teachers with interactive learning activities. Using introductory physics concepts, we demonstrate how to estimate exoplanet mass, radius, and density from the app output. These calculations form the basis for a diverse range of classroom activities. We conclude with a summary of exoplanet science resources for teachers.

Atividades de divulgação científica sobre exoplanetas

“…Além disso, ela pode provocar uma reflexão mais ampla dos alunos acerca do mundo em que vivem, capacitando-os para analisar criticamente os resultados adotados pelas políticas públicas para a ciência (CARNEIRO; LONGHINI, 2015). Surpreendentemente, por mais inovadora que seja a ciência dos exoplanetas, a Física básica envolvida lida com conceitos de mecânica clássica que são bastante acessíveis aos estudantes, para tentar, por exemplo, estimar a massa, o raio e a densidade de um exoplaneta, a partir de dados disponíveis sobre ele (DELLA-ROSE et al, 2018).…”

“…Trabalhos anteriores, sobre a mesma temática que esta, mostram tanto que os conceitos básicos de física necessários para uma compreensão dos métodos de detecção de exoplanetas são geralmente abordados em cursos introdutórios de física, como é o caso do centro de massa e da conservação de momento linear (DELLA-ROSE et al, 2018), quanto que atividades sobre exoplanetas são bons exemplos práticos de astronomia para serem usados em sala de aula, já que permitem tratar de forma interdisciplinar de diversos tópicos relevantes para a formação científicados alunos em diferentes áreas do conhecimento (GEORGE, 2011).…”

A radiometric model for demonstration of exoplanets detection by the transit method

“…Several classroom activities have been proposed to highlight the basic physical principles involved in the detection of exoplanets through several methods. Some of these activities use real or synthetic orbital data to allow students to calculate exoplanet mass, radius, and density [4][5][6]. In other cases, an experimental approach is adopted through demonstrator apparatuses which T M Seixas and M A Salgueiro da Silva allow students to conduct real measurements and determine the size of exoplanet models, using the transit [7][8][9] and radial velocity [10,11] methods.…”

What hides within a photograph: analysis of a light curve in the classroom

“…Different exoplanet detection methods, such as radial velocity measurements, can also be demonstrated in class as has been done in [3,4]. The Exoplanet Edu [5] package for iOS can generate theoretical light curves and radial velocity curves, and export worksheets for students. This provides many opportunities in education and makes the lesson more interesting [6,7].…”