Mississippi Science PHY.4.10
The Standard
- PHY.4
- Students will investigate and explore wave properties.
Enrichment: Research the ways absorption and emission spectra are used to study astronomy and the formation of the universe.
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Waves
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students research how bright and dark spectral lines reveal elements in stars and gas clouds. They look for familiar lines shifted in distant galaxies. They connect redshift and hydrogen and helium measurements to ideas about the early universe.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given a star’s spectrum, students match dark lines to reference lines for hydrogen or helium and explain why the lines are dark. They spot shifted lines in a galaxy spectrum and explain what the shift shows about expansion. They describe how hydrogen and helium measurements help test ideas about the early universe.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think a dark line means an element is absent, rather than light at that wavelength being absorbed by gas. They may mistake redshift for a new element instead of a shift in familiar lines.
How to Assess It
- Show a reference hydrogen spectrum and a distant galaxy spectrum with matching lines shifted toward longer wavelengths. Ask students to identify hydrogen, name the line type, and explain what the shift suggests about expansion.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Place transparent hydrogen and helium emission-line strips over a printed star absorption spectrum, then circle wavelengths that match.
Ask students to write: Why do some spectra have dark lines, while others have bright lines?
Give pairs element cards and shifted galaxy spectra, then have them match line patterns before naming the redshift.
Use a published NASA galaxy spectrum to measure a hydrogen line’s shift and discuss what it suggests about cosmic expansion.
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Printable PHY.4.10 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- CHE.2.4
Research appropriate sources to evaluate the way absorption and emission spectra are used to study astronomy and the formation of the universe.
- PHS.6.8
Enrichment: Debate the particle/wave behavior of light.
- PHY.4.12
Enrichment: Research uses of the electromagnetic spectrum or photoelectric effect.
- CHE.2.3
Investigate absorption and emission spectra to interpret explanations of electrons at discrete energy levels using tools such as online simulations, spectromete...
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