Year 7 Science · Unit 4 · Lesson 13
Foundation Worksheet
Learning Goals
Match each term to its meaning
Write the letter of the correct meaning next to each term. Each letter is used once.
| Term | Letter | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Instrument | A. A kind of light our eyes cannot see, which can pass through dust | |
| Observation | B. The spot about 1.5 million km from Earth where JWST sits | |
| Infrared light | C. A dish or antenna that collects radio waves from space | |
| Exoplanet | D. A tool scientists build to observe things, such as a telescope | |
| Radio telescope | E. A planet that orbits a star other than our Sun | |
| Second Lagrange point (L2) | F. Noticing and recording what is happening, often using a tool |
True or false? Fix the false ones
Circle T or F. If a statement is false, correct it on the line.
1. JWST was launched on 25 December 2021 and sent back its first full-colour images in July 2022.
Correct it:
2. JWST is a radio telescope that was built and is run by Australia.
Correct it:
3. Infrared light can pass through dust that blocks the light our eyes see.
Correct it:
4. The name of the Parkes radio telescope, Murriyang, comes from the Wiradjuri People.
Correct it:
5. JWST sits closer to Earth than the Moon does.
Correct it:
Sort it: instrument, observation or knowledge?
A recent advance works like a chain: new instrument → new observation → new knowledge. Write each item in the box for its link of the chain. The boxes do not hold the same number of items.
New instrument
New observation
New knowledge
1. JWST sits about 1.5 million km from Earth, behind a big sunshield. Give two ways this far-away spot helps it take clear pictures.
Read the data: a dusty star nursery
Scenario
Ava is an astronomer. She wants a picture of the young stars growing inside a thick cloud of dust. A photo from a visible-light telescope on the ground shows only a dark patch. The young stars glow brightly in infrared light. Table 1 lists the instruments she could ask to use.
| Kind of light | Can our eyes see it? | Instrument that collects it | Where the instrument is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visible light | Yes | Telescopes used for hundreds of years | On the ground |
| Infrared light | No | James Webb Space Telescope | In space, about 1.5 million km from Earth |
| Radio waves | No | Parkes radio telescope (Murriyang) | On the ground in central New South Wales |
| Radio waves | No | SKA-Low (being built) | On the ground on Wajarri Country, Western Australia |
Source: facts from this lesson.
2. Use Table 1 and the scenario to explain why Ava’s photo from the ground telescope shows only a dark patch.
3. Which instrument in Table 1 should Ava ask to use? Give two reasons, using the table and the scenario.
4. Name one Australian radio telescope. Then give one reason why remote parts of Australia are good places for radio telescopes.
5. Use the James Webb Space Telescope to show how a new tool can grow what humans understand. Use the words instrument, observation and knowledge.
Match each term to its meaning
Instrument → D; Observation → F; Infrared light → A; Exoplanet → E; Radio telescope → C; Second Lagrange point (L2) → B.
True or false
1. True. 2. False: JWST sees infrared and is run mainly by the United States and Europe. 3. True. 4. True. 5. False: JWST is about four times further away than the Moon.
Sort it: instrument, observation or knowledge?
Instrument: JWST; LIGO detectors; the Event Horizon Telescope. Observation: the first picture of a black hole; new stars seen inside dust clouds; ripples in space, measured in 2015. Knowledge: how the first galaxies grew; the gases in an exoplanet’s air; how our Sun and Earth may have formed; how stars and planets take shape.
Question 1
Any two: cold enough to see in infrared (1); steady (1); the Sun, Earth and Moon are all on one side, so one sunshield blocks them (1). [2 marks]
Question 2
The ground telescope collects visible light (1), which the dust blocks (1). [2 marks]
Question 3
JWST (1). Any two: the young stars glow in infrared (1); infrared passes through dust (1); in space it is cold and steady (1). [3 marks]
Question 4
Parkes (Murriyang) or SKA-Low (1). Far from city radio signals, so faint radio waves are not drowned out (1). [2 marks]
Question 5
Marking guide: 1 JWST as the new instrument, with a correct fact; 1 a new observation; 1 the matching new knowledge; 1 older ground telescopes saw only visible light, which dust blocks; 1 all three key words used to link the chain. [5 marks]
Model answer: JWST (launched December 2021) is a new instrument that sees infrared, which passes through dust. Its new observations inside dust clouds were impossible for older visible-light ground telescopes, and gave new knowledge of how stars and planets form.
Common error: calling a picture (an observation) new knowledge.