cosmic foundations
Through these guides, we explore the foundations of the cosmos, physical world, our environment, and the Universe. We start by investigating the behaviour of light which surrounds us and plays a crucial role in life on Earth, energy, communication, the study of the cosmos, and more! From there, we move on to magnetism, one of the fundamental forces of nature, and while it might not be as well known as gravity, magnetism is just as important! Celestial objects like stars and planets have magnetic properties, and in some cases, these magnetic fields help shape their evolution.
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These guides provide everything you need to get started: a full list of materials, safety tips, preparation suggestions, background information, research connections, and helpful teaching hints for each activity.
meet laurie rousseau-nepton
The science kit in your hands is the result of a collaboration between us here at Discover the Universe and Laurie Rousseau-Nepton, an Innu astrophysicist and professor at the University of Toronto. Laurie studies the stars and how they form in galaxies using a world-class instrument she helped build. We created this kit to bring Laurie’s research, and the fascinating science behind it, into classrooms.
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Laurie grew up around the Quebec city area and studied at Université Laval where she obtained a Ph.D in astrophysics, a first for an Indigenous woman in Canada. She then worked at the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope in Hawaii for a few years, where she developed an ambitious research program which involves dozens of astrophysicists around the world. She is now lives in Toronto with her husband and two daughters where she is a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Toronto. In her spare time, she enjoys the great outdoors, going for a run, and playing with her kids. Laurie is Innu and a member of the Mashteuiatsh community.
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You can meet Laurie in the videos introducing the activities in these guides. You can also learn more about her in the National Film Board documentary North Star (watch it with your students)!
Laurie on the catwalk at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, with the Gemini North observatory behind her.
Get started!
Before you download the Cosmic Foundations Guides, you may want to check out these introductory YouTube videos to get a sense of what's involved, you can also review the Grades at a Glance table for grade suitability, and read the Materials List. When you’re ready to dive in, our premade Google Slides are ready to help you bring these topics to life with your students.
GRADES AT A GLANCE
Here's how the activities are designed to fit into grades K - 12. The table below uses a to indicate activities that are best presented as a demonstration or class discussion; a for activities designed to meet targeted learning goals; and indicates the activity is possibly already familiar but may be used as a review; blank squares means the activity isn’t suitable.
MATERIALS LIST
These activities are best done with the materials listed below. We will do our best to keep these links active, but should they not work, the majority of the items can be bought from spectrumed.ca or at a local dollar store.
LIGHT & OPTICS
MAGNETISM
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Cheap reading glasses (+3.75 or +4)
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Paper clips
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Sewing needles
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AAA batteries
guides in the series
COMIC FOUNDATIONS
Grades K — 12
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Slides
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Hands-on learning
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Activity sheets
Download the entire package including an introduction with the history and goals of the project, the Light & Optics guide, and the Magnetism guide. This is the best way to get everything you need to teach your students the foundations of the cosmos!
LIGHT & OPTICS
Grades K — 12
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Slides
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Hands-on learning
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Activity sheets
This guide features activities focused on light and optics, using coloured filters, prisms, and diffraction gratings. Students explore how light behaves when it passes through prisms and with different wavelengths, as well as concepts like reflection, refraction, image formation, focal points, and focal length. These activities connect to general science, physics, and even art curricula.
MAGNETISM
Grades K — 12
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Slides
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Hands-on learning
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Activity sheets
This guide features five activities exploring magnetism, and covers magnetic materials, types of magnetism, magnetic fields, Earth’s magnetic field, and electromagnetism. These activities connect to general science and physics curricula.
classroom-ready slides
We’ve created ready-to-use slide decks to make sharing these themes with your students easy and engaging. Just download the Google Slides (in whichever format you prefer), then customize anything you’d like so it fits your teaching style and goals. You’ll also find a few hidden slides with extra tips, plus speaker notes to help guide your flow. The guides are there to build your confidence and understanding, while the slides are all about bringing that learning to life in your classroom.
SUPPORT
We are so excited to share these new activities with you, and hope you enjoy exploring in your classroom as much as we enjoyed play-testing everything.
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Should you run into any hiccups, or need advice on any activity in particular, please feel free to reach out to our team and we'll get back to you with support as soon as we can!