1. What did you do in this lab?
In this lab, we learned about how the universe is constantly expanding and getting bigger every second. We used a balloon to represent this change.
2. What did the ballon and the dots represent?
We used the ballon to represent the universe and the dots to represent the galaxies.
3. Describe the trend in expansion distance.
The distance between the dots progressively got further apart as the balloon expanded/inflated more and more.
4. What is your opinion on the value of the lab? What questions do you still have?
This was a really interesting activity and it cleared up a lot of confusion I had about this concept of the universe expanding. What was before the Big Bang? Why did the Big Bang occur? After the universe expands to its fullest potential, will it revert back to what it started out as?
Great Job Alyson. I really enjoyed your post. I like how it is organized and easy to read; especially how you included the questions as well as your answers to them, and a chart of your results. I did the same lab and my results were a bit different than yours. All of the dots in my lab were placed further away from each other to begin with, so naturally my results showed a greater difference in the distance between the dots on Trial 1 compared to Trial 3. The balloon expands in all directions as it was blown up, this represents the universe and how it is expanding in all directions. The dots on the balloon represent galaxies and how they get further apart as the universe expands.
I really like the way you explained your lab, it is very clear and easy to understand. Our results are quite different; in your lab the distance from M to D had the greatest distance, on my lab the distance from C to M is the greatest. the balloon represents the universe and the dots represent the galaxies as the balloon gets bigger the galaxies get farther apart.
-Hailey Smith
I like how your answers were clear and simple, easy to follow along. The results for my group were much different, for ours the distance between points M to C were the greatest compared to your lab which the points M to D had the greatest distance between. This would show the expansion of the universe as the balloon represents the universe and each point being a different galaxy, when the balloon is blown up the space between each point gets larger showing an increase in distance, similar to the real thing (minus the blowing up part).
I enjoyed how your post was easy to read, simple in a really good way, and the fact that your layout was organized. In my class, we did the same lab in groups. My group drew the dots closer to one another than yours were, and it showed in the results. My dots expanded much less than yours, but my points M to D had the greatest distance; like yours. It shows that the universe is expanding in all directions because the balloon represents the universe, while every point represents a galaxy and as the balloon/universe grows bigger and bigger, all the dots/galaxies move further and further apart from one another.
I like how your answers got straight to the point and they were simple and easy to understand. I also like how you inserted the graph so we could read your results easier. This assignment was to explain how and what happens when the universe when it expands. The balloon is the universe and this activity explains how the galaxies (the dots) expand outwards. According to your measurements, the greatest distance was from D to M. My measurements weren’t the same but my greatest distance was also D to M!