KWLs from Luisa's science partners partnership.

Before reading this, you should read the rest of my reflections on the partnership.

"KWL's" are what we asked the kids before we met with them the first time: What do you Know, what do you Want to know, and what did you Learn (to be filled in afterwards). This is very very interesting, and extremely useful for figuring out what to (try to) teach them, and what (if anything) they picked up from you. I'll definitely use this in the future.

Below are REAL KWLs, with only first names of the kids. Edited somewhat for spelling and grammar. [?] means I can read the writing just fine, but the concept is beyond me, and I've copied the letters (which are all clearly written) here.

first name Know Want to know Learned

Jason Stars are burning balls of gas. The Sun is a star. Some stars form shapes called constellations. Where do stars come from? How many stars are there? How long do stars last?
added later: Why were stars made? When will the Universe end? How long is the Universe? [?] [they come from] clouds of gas far away. [they last a] very very long time. Some are far - light years away.

Caitlin Stars are made of fire and other gasses. Stars produce light. Are stars made by crashing meteors? What causes stars to create light? How much light does a star produce? How big is an average star? No, [they are made from] gas and dust. Stars are created in tons of dust. It's sort of like a cocoon. The different gases plus other things create a star's light. How much light depends on how big the star is, and other things. A dying star is a red giant. The Hubble Telescope captures images people cannot see. At one point the Hubble wasn't working. When a star dies, it creates a nebula. Scientists argue lots over ideas, and debates they wonder about.

Derek Stars are balls of burning gas. They are very far away. The Sun is a star. How long they live. How big they are. How to tell what stars are the brightest. They are gas. The Sun is a small star. They go through different phases.

Jane The Sun is a star. The are burning balls of gas. They are huge. There are millions of stars. They make up constellations. Stars come out at night. How were stars created? How long do they exist? Do they change? Form at a certain age? [?] What was the first star in the Universe? Stars are formed in giant gas and dust clouds. It depends on which stars to find out how long they live. Yes, they do change at certain ages.

Becky No known life on any stars. All stars have a black period. [?] The Sun will have its black period in 1 billion years approximately. Is there life on any star? and How could you prove there is? What would happen if the Sun had its black period early?
Added later: What was the first star in the Universe? What was the main time period the Big Bang occurred? What was the star that blew up to make Earth? What is outside of space? There are different types and colors of stars. Stars the size of our Sun last about 8 billion years. The Hubble Space Telescope has been in orbit for about 10 years. Jupiter was hit by more than just one piece of comet. When stars die they become Red giants or White Dwarfs. Uranus was discovered a long time ago. The Earth was made after a supernova. Stars are born in nebulae.

Lisa They are made up of different gases. They glow. They are bright. Why are they called stars? How do they glow? How are they made?
added later: What was the first star in the Universe? Hubble made a telescope and something went wrong and he sent an astronaut team into space to fix the problem. We learned how to work with cyberspace [computer lab at adler]. It takes a million light years to get to a star.

Colleen Big balls of fire. They can shoot. How fast or slow can they shoot? How big or small can the stars get? No, they don't shoot. [More no's written by the "big and small" section, then:] Different brightnesses, different sizes. [big circle, small circle, then, somewhat worrisome, a kidney bean and a figure 8.]

Bryan Stars are very big. The Sun is a star. Most stars are bigger than the Earth. Stars are burning balls of gas. How big are most stars? What makes them burn? How many miles away from Earth are they?
Added later: How big is Hubble? [Most stars are] bigger than the Sun. [they are] a lot and lot of light years away.

Nick They are burning gases. They are in space. They are further than any planet. How do stars burn when fire needs oxygen? How stars form. Why are there stars? from gases.[?]

Margaret Stars are made out of gases. Stars make their own light. Stars are very bright. Stars don't look like this: [5-corner star drawn]. Stars are different formations. They make up constellations. I want to know how they are made, what they are made of, and their purpose.
added later: I want to know what is actually in a star. How long are light minutes and hours. Which was the 1 star. What exactly happened in the Big Bang. What a supernova is. How stars are born. What they are made of. What a white dwarf is. What arien [?] has in it. What a black hole is. How the Hubble Space Telescope got up in space.

Anne Stars are balls of gas. They have been around for millions of years. The stars that fall on Earth are called meteorites. How far is the farthest star? How many are there?
added later: When was the first star in the Universe? (Big Bang) What happens to objects going into a black hole? Stars are formed by clouds of dust. Black holes are dying stars.Astronomers are still not sure how old the Universe is. It takes 4 light years to get to the nearest star.

Carolyn Stars are gases. Stars are billions of miles away from the Earth. Stars are big. Stars come out at night. There are shooting stars. Why do stars shine? How big can they get? How were stars formed?
Added later: How old is the Universe exactly? Which star was the first star in the Universe? Stars were formed by clouds of dust. Stars can get up to any and many sizes. Black holes are made by dead stars. It would take 1,000,000 years to get to the nearest star.

Jonathan Stars are in the sky. They are in astronomy. They are all around the Earth. Do stars glow? Stars are in the sky. How to can tris stars, plants.[?]

Jordan They are great big balls of fire. They are made of many gases. How the stars glow at night.
added later: Is there any gold in a star Some stars have a cocoon. Other stars have blue have [?]

Paul Give off light. incredibly hot. live millions of years. many different kinds. red dwarf, white dwarf, blue dwarf, red giant, white giant, etc. I want to know everything I don't know. I learned that thousands of solar systems outside ours, blue is hot, orange is cold, the universe is expanding, there is a better night sky in Australia than at the planetarium, most stars become neutron stars, our star is going to become a red giant star.

Keith They are in the sky. Why much they weigh. Why many are there. First star when was it made. I learn that there are many star. And blue is the hot star. That stars from image the stars are from by gas of clouds. Star are far. When star die, after use up H, He.

Ashley I know that stars glow and that the Sun is a star. Do stars only glow at night, and if so why. How do stars world. [work?] What makes star become That stars glow all time around. Stars become by big clouds of dust when a star is being born. Also stars die when they use up all their hydrogen and helium.

Rashona When you're far away they are smaller, when you're close they are larger. They are a part of the Sun. They mix of different colors and the most common color would be red. Stars contain many colors which represents different types of things. Stars can glow and show very unexpecting colors. What was the first star. How were they formed. How far were they in the sky. Exactly how big are they. Whn was the first star formed. How big can a star get. What do the colors mean. How are the colors range hottest to coldest. Stars are formed by dusty clouds and are range in many ways. Star's hottest color is blue and the second color that is the hottest is white. When stars die everything is used up (hydrogen and helium). The stars throw off their outer layers (nebula). Stars are also light years away. Stars are range in many different colors. Nebulae form new stars.

Patrice The Sun is a star. Shooting stars. About more Sun story[?]. Why there are shooting stars.
Added later: first star in the Universe, Big Bang. Stars Sun moons planets. It takes a million years to get to a star. Light ponit min [??] 93,000,000 miles. When stars die, after use H, He. Make nebula. Nebula- new stars are born.

AJ Stars are a big ball of gas. Why are stars. What are stars freed off[??]. to give out light

Elizabeth The Sun is a star, shooting stars. Why there are shooting stars, and a lot more about stars.
Added later: why is our spce black, blue, and reddish? [???] Stars are gas, there are 2 more than cooler stars, and there is such a thing as white lights. There is such a thing as a nebula, that the nebula makes stars, stars are far away, we can see very well.

Devin Stars are on fire. The Sun is a star. Stars are billions of miles away. Sailors use stars. There are constellations. Do stars have certain names. What is the closest star? How many stars are there? Stars do have names. There are over 200 billion stars. I learned names of stars. How bright they are. The Sun is the closest star.

You can see why we chose to deal with shooting stars and star formation in our first lesson. I'm not sure where all the "first stars" and "big bang" references came from. (the last sky show they saw??)

Go back to my reflections page.

Last substantially modified a long time ago by rebull
Any opinions expressed here are well-reasoned and insightful, but in no way reflect those of NASA/JPL, Caltech, or the NRC. No electrons were harmed in the creation of these pages.

first name	Know	Want to know	Learned
Jason	Stars are burning balls of gas. The Sun is a star. Some stars form shapes called constellations.	Where do stars come from? How many stars are there? How long do stars last? added later: Why were stars made? When will the Universe end? How long is the Universe? [?]	[they come from] clouds of gas far away. [they last a] very very long time. Some are far - light years away.
Caitlin	Stars are made of fire and other gasses. Stars produce light.	Are stars made by crashing meteors? What causes stars to create light? How much light does a star produce? How big is an average star?	No, [they are made from] gas and dust. Stars are created in tons of dust. It's sort of like a cocoon. The different gases plus other things create a star's light. How much light depends on how big the star is, and other things. A dying star is a red giant. The Hubble Telescope captures images people cannot see. At one point the Hubble wasn't working. When a star dies, it creates a nebula. Scientists argue lots over ideas, and debates they wonder about.
Derek	Stars are balls of burning gas. They are very far away. The Sun is a star.	How long they live. How big they are. How to tell what stars are the brightest.	They are gas. The Sun is a small star. They go through different phases.
Jane	The Sun is a star. The are burning balls of gas. They are huge. There are millions of stars. They make up constellations. Stars come out at night.	How were stars created? How long do they exist? Do they change? Form at a certain age? [?] What was the first star in the Universe?	Stars are formed in giant gas and dust clouds. It depends on which stars to find out how long they live. Yes, they do change at certain ages.
Becky	No known life on any stars. All stars have a black period. [?] The Sun will have its black period in 1 billion years approximately.	Is there life on any star? and How could you prove there is? What would happen if the Sun had its black period early? Added later: What was the first star in the Universe? What was the main time period the Big Bang occurred? What was the star that blew up to make Earth? What is outside of space?	There are different types and colors of stars. Stars the size of our Sun last about 8 billion years. The Hubble Space Telescope has been in orbit for about 10 years. Jupiter was hit by more than just one piece of comet. When stars die they become Red giants or White Dwarfs. Uranus was discovered a long time ago. The Earth was made after a supernova. Stars are born in nebulae.
Lisa	They are made up of different gases. They glow. They are bright.	Why are they called stars? How do they glow? How are they made? added later: What was the first star in the Universe?	Hubble made a telescope and something went wrong and he sent an astronaut team into space to fix the problem. We learned how to work with cyberspace [computer lab at adler]. It takes a million light years to get to a star.
Colleen	Big balls of fire. They can shoot.	How fast or slow can they shoot? How big or small can the stars get?	No, they don't shoot. [More no's written by the "big and small" section, then:] Different brightnesses, different sizes. [big circle, small circle, then, somewhat worrisome, a kidney bean and a figure 8.]
Bryan	Stars are very big. The Sun is a star. Most stars are bigger than the Earth. Stars are burning balls of gas.	How big are most stars? What makes them burn? How many miles away from Earth are they? Added later: How big is Hubble?	[Most stars are] bigger than the Sun. [they are] a lot and lot of light years away.
Nick	They are burning gases. They are in space. They are further than any planet.	How do stars burn when fire needs oxygen? How stars form. Why are there stars?	from gases.[?]
Margaret	Stars are made out of gases. Stars make their own light. Stars are very bright. Stars don't look like this: [5-corner star drawn]. Stars are different formations. They make up constellations.	I want to know how they are made, what they are made of, and their purpose. added later: I want to know what is actually in a star. How long are light minutes and hours. Which was the 1 star. What exactly happened in the Big Bang.	What a supernova is. How stars are born. What they are made of. What a white dwarf is. What arien [?] has in it. What a black hole is. How the Hubble Space Telescope got up in space.
Anne	Stars are balls of gas. They have been around for millions of years. The stars that fall on Earth are called meteorites.	How far is the farthest star? How many are there? added later: When was the first star in the Universe? (Big Bang) What happens to objects going into a black hole?	Stars are formed by clouds of dust. Black holes are dying stars.Astronomers are still not sure how old the Universe is. It takes 4 light years to get to the nearest star.
Carolyn	Stars are gases. Stars are billions of miles away from the Earth. Stars are big. Stars come out at night. There are shooting stars.	Why do stars shine? How big can they get? How were stars formed? Added later: How old is the Universe exactly? Which star was the first star in the Universe?	Stars were formed by clouds of dust. Stars can get up to any and many sizes. Black holes are made by dead stars. It would take 1,000,000 years to get to the nearest star.
Jonathan	Stars are in the sky. They are in astronomy. They are all around the Earth.	Do stars glow?	Stars are in the sky. How to can tris stars, plants.[?]
Jordan	They are great big balls of fire. They are made of many gases.	How the stars glow at night. added later: Is there any gold in a star	Some stars have a cocoon. Other stars have blue have [?]
Paul	Give off light. incredibly hot. live millions of years. many different kinds. red dwarf, white dwarf, blue dwarf, red giant, white giant, etc.	I want to know everything I don't know.	I learned that thousands of solar systems outside ours, blue is hot, orange is cold, the universe is expanding, there is a better night sky in Australia than at the planetarium, most stars become neutron stars, our star is going to become a red giant star.
Keith	They are in the sky.	Why much they weigh. Why many are there. First star when was it made.	I learn that there are many star. And blue is the hot star. That stars from image the stars are from by gas of clouds. Star are far. When star die, after use up H, He.
Ashley	I know that stars glow and that the Sun is a star.	Do stars only glow at night, and if so why. How do stars world. [work?] What makes star become	That stars glow all time around. Stars become by big clouds of dust when a star is being born. Also stars die when they use up all their hydrogen and helium.
Rashona	When you're far away they are smaller, when you're close they are larger. They are a part of the Sun. They mix of different colors and the most common color would be red. Stars contain many colors which represents different types of things. Stars can glow and show very unexpecting colors.	What was the first star. How were they formed. How far were they in the sky. Exactly how big are they. Whn was the first star formed. How big can a star get. What do the colors mean. How are the colors range hottest to coldest.	Stars are formed by dusty clouds and are range in many ways. Star's hottest color is blue and the second color that is the hottest is white. When stars die everything is used up (hydrogen and helium). The stars throw off their outer layers (nebula). Stars are also light years away. Stars are range in many different colors. Nebulae form new stars.
Patrice	The Sun is a star. Shooting stars.	About more Sun story[?]. Why there are shooting stars. Added later: first star in the Universe, Big Bang.	Stars Sun moons planets. It takes a million years to get to a star. Light ponit min [??] 93,000,000 miles. When stars die, after use H, He. Make nebula. Nebula- new stars are born.
AJ	Stars are a big ball of gas.	Why are stars. What are stars freed off[??].	to give out light
Elizabeth	The Sun is a star, shooting stars.	Why there are shooting stars, and a lot more about stars. Added later: why is our spce black, blue, and reddish? [???]	Stars are gas, there are 2 more than cooler stars, and there is such a thing as white lights. There is such a thing as a nebula, that the nebula makes stars, stars are far away, we can see very well.
Devin	Stars are on fire. The Sun is a star. Stars are billions of miles away. Sailors use stars. There are constellations.	Do stars have certain names. What is the closest star? How many stars are there?	Stars do have names. There are over 200 billion stars. I learned names of stars. How bright they are. The Sun is the closest star.