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New discoveries about the Universe

Laura Massa

One of the most exciting aspects of teaching Big History is showing students that science is not set in stone but is an ongoing process of discovery. The Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile is shedding light on dark matter and dark energy—two of the biggest mysteries in modern cosmology, and raising new questions about how our universe works. This article is a fascinating read.

For anyone teaching Big History, this is a wonderful example of how advances in technology continue to transform our understanding of the cosmos. It reminds our students that the story of the universe is still being written as new evidence reshapes our understanding.

This article also pairs beautifully with Vera Rubin's graphic biography, highlighting both her pioneering contributions to astronomy and the ongoing search to understand the invisible universe she helped reveal. How would you incorporate this discovery into your Threshold 1 lessons? I'd love to hear your ideas!   

  • Excellent post  and thank you for sharing info about the Vera Rubin Observatory and the research into dark matter and energy. I was always so proud when my students saw something in the news with a Big History connection and shared it in class. Once you've learned the history of the universe through a Big History lens, you see the connections everywhere! I'd also love to learn about how teachers incorporate new scientific discoveries into the classroom. Do you all still do the older This Threshold Today activities?

  • Thank you for sharing  One of the reasons I love BHP is that I get to step away from my history instruction and its constraints on being in one (sometimes two) historical periods that often have a definitive start and finish and we have an accepted answer.  When we start getting into the science aspect of BHP quite is theoretical and cannot be easily replicated with an experiment here on earth.  Instead of focusing on what I do not quite understand, I use this to take my high schoolers back to a time when they were fascinated about basically everything and to make those hypotheses with the understanding that we are still learning about these topics.  

    I sometimes listen to the Origins podcast on my morning 5k runs and I catch myself just getting caught up in the process of wondering instead of trying to remember everything that is stated in the podcast.  I am a huge fan of Professor Christian and I love hearing the excitement in his voice as he interacts with his guests and that is what I try to bring to my students. I will definitely add this article to my repertoire and use it with my students in that first threshold here in August!

  • Thanks for sharing this resource (unfortunately stuck behind a paywall, so I am saving notes on the topic to try to access it),  ! It's also a solid way of showing students that what we know today can change tomorrow. I talk about this ALL of the time with students, and explain that this is why context matters. What we think we know is based on the best evidence, tools, and technologies, and can be influenced by dominant ways of thinking.

  • in reply to Bridgette OConnor

      those are the moments we live for as educators! Last year, I didn't do any of the This Threshold Today activities, but I have done them in the past. I'm hopeful I can dialogue with the incoming science teacher about finding connections in this way. There is a "science in the news" project that 6th graders do where the find a connection to science and breakdown the information and the article in a presentation format. I'm struck by how often the science topics they find connect to concepts we have discussed in history. Maybe I'll get the teacher a list of concepts/topics that come up to see if she wants to encourage those, especially for kids who are 'stuck' when it comes to picking an idea!

  • in reply to Meaghan Mihalic

    Here's a gift version of the WaPo article that  shared. Hopefully you all can access it now: https://wapo.st/4wszkdK 

    And that's a great idea to connect with the science teacher and share a list of possible BH-related topics for the kids,  !

     it warms my heart to hear that you've been listening to the podcast--we worked so hard on that!!

  • in reply to Bridgette OConnor

    Thank you so much for sharing the free version of this article