From the ISS to the edge of the universe — prediction worksheet
Name ______________________ Class ______________ Date __________
For each question: tick your prediction before you try the lab, and say why. Then run it and see.
An astronaut spends six months on the International Space Station. When they come home, compared with a twin who stayed on the ground, they are…
- ☐ Younger, by about 5 thousandths of a second
- ☐ Older, by about 5 thousandths of a second
- ☐ Younger, by about 5 minutes
Why do you think so?
What happened when you tried it?
A ship accelerates at a steady 1 g — the push of Earth's gravity — then turns and brakes at 1 g. How long does the crew, by their own clocks, take to reach the centre of our galaxy, 26,000 light-years away?
- ☐ About 26,000 years
- ☐ About 20 years
- ☐ It can't be done — nothing gets that far that fast
Why do you think so?
What happened when you tried it?
The universe is 13.8 billion years old. How far away — today — is the most distant matter whose light we can see?
- ☐ 13.8 billion light-years
- ☐ About 46 billion light-years
- ☐ Infinitely far
Why do you think so?
What happened when you tried it?
Lay out cosmic time in powers of ten, from the Planck time — where today's physics stops being reliable — to the last black hole evaporating. Where does 'today' fall on that chart?
- ☐ Near the very end: we're latecomers
- ☐ Near the very beginning
- ☐ A little under halfway along
Why do you think so?
What happened when you tried it?