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What are some ways to help students understand the vastness of the universe?
When I was growing up, and even sometimes to this day, it was difficult to understand what was meant by the universe or space. All I could imagine was the world I was living in. I have taught space to third graders and I noticed that the students were uninterested, which shocked me. I took a second and asked the students what they knew about space and many of them only mentioned that Earth is a planet in the milky way. I asked them how big they think the milky way is, and they suggested that it just surrounded our planet. I decided to find a video on youtube that 'zooms out' to see the milkway and the surrounding galaxies. The students were blown away, and begged me to show more videos showing how vast the universe is. This prompted many questions, some of which I could not answer at the moment.
Are there any other ways to help students understand the universe or any resources that explain this in kid friendly language?
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