5-E Classroom STEM Activity:

EXPERIENCING INTERSTELLAR - GRAVITY AND SPECIAL EFFECTS

Dr. Candace Walkington, Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education
Southern Methodist University
 5-E Classroom STEM Activity:
EXPERIENCING INTERSTELLAR
Here are some ideas for how high school teachers could use this story as a
launching point for integrated STEM learning. Our activities follow the 5-E Learning
Cycle Model, and the activity below is intended to last three to four 1-hour class
periods (although portions of the activity could be used in shorter time periods).

Part 1: Engage
1 Have students read the STEM Jobs article Cinematic Science.
SM

2 Discuss the article with students, posing questions like: How do you think visual effects engineers
use science and math? What science concepts have you learned that would be relevant to modelling
phenomena in space?
3 Play the video trailer for Interstellar (youtube.com/watch?v=0vxOhd4qlnA).
4 Pose additional questions to students, like: What properties makes a planet able to sustain human
life? How does a planets gravity impact travel to or from that planet? What do you know about
black holes? Do wormholes really exist?

Part 2: Explore
1 Place students into groups of three or four.
2 Have student groups explore the following infographic about the science of Interstellar
(space.com/27692-science-of-interstellar-infographic.html).
3 Give student groups the following activity:

Activity: What Decision Would You Make?

In Interstellar, the visual effects team designed three beautifully-rendered planets that orbit
around an amazing super-massive black hole called Gargantua. Gargantua has a mass
that is 100 million times that of the sun, lies 10 billion light years from Earth and rotates at
99.8 percent of the speed of light. The image the visual effects team created for Gargantua
is considered by some to be the most accurate depiction of a black hole ever created.

The properties of the three planets that the astronauts in Interstellar are considering as a
home for the human race are as follows:

Planet Position Gravity

Millers Planet Nearest to Gargantua 130% of Earths gravity
Manns Planet In between 80% of Earths gravity
Edmunds Planet Farthest from Gargantua 65% of Earths gravity

You have entered this system through a wormhole (which the visual effects team
depicted as a shimmering sphere) and have limited fuel, food and timewhich planet
would you choose to explore first? Which one would you go to second? Why?

The acceleration due to gravity of an object near the surface of the Earth is approximately
9.8 m/s2. How is this acceleration related to the mass and radius of the Earth? How does
gravity influence the amount of fuel needed to take off from the surface of a planet?

1 STEMjobs.com Experiencing Interstellar - Gravity and Special Effects

 Part 3: Explain
1 Each student group should present and explain their reasoning for their decision of which planet to
explore. Student groups should be encouraged to draw upon online sources for information on space
and astrophysics. (e.g., jpl.nasa.gov/basics/bsf4-1.php, science.nasa.gov/astrophysics,
hubblesite.org/explore_astronomy/black_holes/home.html)
2 The teacher could then let students who have not seen the movie know that Edmunds Planetthe
planet furthest from the effects of Gargantuaturned out to be the most inhabitable for human life
(note that the gravity for Edmunds planet was never explicitly discussed in the movie, thus the
65% is a made-up figure).
3 The richness of the exploration and the discussion around it will depend on both the students and
teachers prior knowledge of the topic. One suggested source for reading for both the teacher and
students is the book The Science of Interstellar by Kip Thorne. The class could also discuss the science
behind how the visual artist chose to depict the wormhole and the black hole (e.g., see: universetoday.
com/115562/the-physics-behind-intellstellars-visual-effects-was-so-good-it-lead-to-a-scientific-discovery).
4 The teacher could supply appropriate values for the mass and radius of the three planets, as well as their
relative distances, to further deepen the exploration and discussion, and its connection to the standards.

Part 4: Elaborate
Have students explore the free Interstellar Experience game (game.interstellarmovie.com) which works
within computer browsers. The game allows players to design and build detailed solar systems,
and then pilot the Endurance spacecraft in their solar system and in other solar systems created by
their friends. Players must grapple with gravitational lawslike those involved with sling-shotting
around or orbiting a planet or star, or avoiding being pulled into the gravity of a black holein order
to explore space and travel large distances while limiting energy consumption and time.

Part 5: Evaluate
Have students describe in their science journals how gravity impacts space travel and the motion of different
planetary bodies. Encourage them to draw visuals that are inspired from the visual effects in Interstellar.

Next Generation Science Standards:

HS-ESS1-4. Use mathematical or computational representations to predict the
motion of orbiting objects in the solar system.

HS-PS2-1. Analyze data to support the claim that Newtons second law of motion
describes the mathematical relationship among the net force on a macroscopic object,
its mass and its acceleration.

HS-ETS1-3. Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized

criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety,
reliability and aesthetics as well as possible social, cultural and environmental impacts.

2 STEMjobs.com Experiencing Interstellar - Gravity and Special Effects

STEMjobs.com