Advanced Cosmology & Astronomy

📋 Course Overview

This is not your average astronomy course. Advanced Cosmology & Astronomy takes students into the actual mathematics that astrophysicists use — 21 real equations, real data analysis, and real citizen science participation. Students will master how light, gravity, and space-time work, explore the cosmic web of galaxies, wrestle with the big questions about origins, and investigate exoplanets and the search for life. And through it all, they'll encounter this truth again and again: the universe is not an accident. It is a masterpiece, and it was made by Someone. This course builds STEM confidence and deepens faith at the same time — because in the end, those two things are not in conflict.

📚 Course Units — 6 Units · 32 Weeks

• ⚛️ Unit 1: Foundations of Physics — Scientific notation, units, light, electromagnetic spectrum & the tools of astronomy
• ⭐ Unit 2: Stars: Birth, Life & Death — Stellar classification, HR diagram, nuclear fusion, supernovae & black holes
• 🌌 Unit 3: Galaxies & the Cosmic Web — Milky Way, galaxy types, dark matter & large-scale structure
• 🌍 Unit 4: Cosmology & Origins — Big Bang, cosmic microwave background, expansion, dark energy & a Christian worldview on origins
• 🪐 Unit 5: Exoplanets & Astrobiology — Detection methods, habitable zones, biosignatures & the question of life
• 🚀 Unit 6: Space Exploration — History of spaceflight, current missions, careers in STEM & capstone project

🎓 Grade-Level Math Expectations

📦 Student Receives Each Week

• ✅ Printed lecture notes to follow and annotate in class
• ✅ Student textbook chapter for the week's content
• ✅ Vocabulary list (alphabetized with definitions)
• ✅ Hands-on lab or citizen science activity (Zooniverse, NASA)
• ✅ Faith reflection connecting science to Scripture