Conversation Starter: “Where do you think everything in the world came from?”

Long, long ago—before dinosaurs, before stars, before even time itself, there was… nothing. No planets.No sunshine. No colors, sounds, or space to float in.

Just nothing.

But not the kind of nothing that means empty like your lunchbox after a picnic. This was a strange kind of nothing. No space, no time, no here or there.And then, something happened.

It wasn’t a boom like fireworks.

It wasn’t a bang like a balloon popping.

It wasn’t even loud.

In fact, it wasn’t really an explosion at all.

It was more like… a stretching.

A sudden, enormous, everywhere-at-once stretching of space itself.

From something smaller than the tiniest thing you can imagine, the universe began to grow. Faster than fast, space expanded. In just a blink, it grew bigger than you can picture.

Time began to tick.

Light began to shine.

Tiny particles zoomed and zipped, colliding and dancing together.

And from all that motion came stars. Then galaxies. Then planets and moons.

A long, long time later…

One tiny blue planet formed.

Oceans swirled, life began, and after billions of years… you were born.

You are made of the atoms that once danced in stars.

Now here’s the part that gives some people goosebumps:

We still don’t know what came before the Big Bang!

Maybe there was something.

Maybe there was nothing.

Maybe time itself didn’t even exist to have a “before.”

And that’s okay.

The universe still holds mysteries.

And every question we ask is part of our journey to understand it.

So the next time someone says the Big Bang was a big explosion, you can smile and say, “It wasn’t a bang. It was the beginning of everything.”

Help learners visualize how space itself expands with the Big Bang by using a balloon!

Key Concepts to Emphasize:

• Galaxies aren’t flying through space like rockets; space is growing between them.
• The Big Bang wasn’t an explosion in space, but an expansion of space.

Materials:

• A balloon (preferably a large, round one)
• A permanent marker/or Sharpie

Instructions:

Prepare the Balloon:

• Before inflating, draw several small dots around the surface of the deflated balloon. These dots represent galaxies scattered throughout the universe.
• Explain: “Each dot is a galaxy — a huge group of stars like our Milky Way. The balloon itself is space.”

The Starting Point (The Singularity):

• Show the balloon fully deflated and scrunched up.
• Say: “At the very beginning — the Big Bang — everything was squeezed into a tiny space, like this scrunched-up balloon.”

Inflating the Balloon:

• Slowly blow air into the balloon, letting it expand while watching the dots get farther apart.

Observe Distances Increasing:

• Ask your child to observe what’s happening. If they don’t, point out how every dot seems to move away from every other dot, no matter where you look on the balloon.
  • “As space expands, all the galaxies move away from each other, just like the dots on this balloon move apart as it gets bigger.”
  • “No matter which galaxy you stand on, it looks like all the other galaxies are moving away from you. That’s because space itself is stretching.”

Discussion Prompts:

• “What does this tell us about the nature of space and the universe?”
• “If the balloon keeps getting bigger, what might happen to the galaxies in the future?”

Video Explanation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tJWRHgzgaALinks to an external site.

1. What was the universe like before the Big Bang in the story?

Sample Answer: “There was nothing — no planets, no stars, no space.”

2. Why does the story say the Big Bang wasn’t like fireworks or a balloon popping?

Sample Answer: “Because it wasn’t loud and it didn’t happen in just one place.”

3. What happened right after the Big Bang began?

Sample Answer: “Space got bigger, time started, and tiny bits of stuff moved around.”

4. The story says we don’t know what came before the Big Bang. How does that make you feel?

Sample Answer: “It’s a mystery, and mysteries are exciting.”

5. Why do scientists say the universe is still expanding?

Sample Answer: “Because things in space are still moving farther apart.”

6. If you could travel back to the very first moment of the Big Bang, what do you think you would see or feel?

Sample Answer: “I might see bright light and feel like I was going really fast.”

1. What do scientists think the universe was like before the Big Bang?

Sample Answer: “There was no space, no time, and no matter — basically, nothing existed the way we understand it.”

2. Why is the Big Bang not like fireworks or a balloon popping?

Sample Answer: “Because it didn’t happen in one spot, and it didn’t make sound like we hear — it was the expansion of everything at once.”

3. What occurred immediately after the Big Bang began?

Sample Answer: “Space started expanding, time began, and tiny particles of matter and energy spread out.”

4. The lesson says we don’t know what came before the Big Bang. How does that make you feel?

Sample Answer: “It’s mysterious and makes me curious — there’s still so much we don’t understand about the universe.”

5. Why do scientists believe the universe is still expanding today?

Sample Answer: “Scientists see galaxies moving away from each other, like dots on a balloon getting farther apart as it inflates. They also notice red shift in light and leftover radiation from the Big Bang, called cosmic microwave background, which shows the universe is still stretching.”

6. If you could witness the very first moment of the Big Bang, what might you experience?

Sample Answer: “I might see an incredibly bright, hot glow and feel the universe stretching very quickly around me.”

• The Big Bang, Cosmology part 1: Crash Course Astronomy #42
• TEDed: What is the universe expanding into? – Sajan Saini
• Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell: The Beginning of Everything — The Big Bang
• TED-ed: What’s the smallest thing in the universe? – Jonathan Butterworth

Hubble Telescope

This powerful space telescope helped confirm that the Universe is expanding by observing distant galaxies moving away from us — key evidence for the Big Bang Theory.

Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)

The leftover heat radiation from the early Universe, detected by scientists in the 1960s, gives us a snapshot of what the Universe looked like shortly after the Big Bang.

Edwin Hubble and the Expanding Universe

Hubble’s observations in the 1920s showed that galaxies are moving away from each other, proving the Universe is growing — a foundational idea behind the Big Bang.

Gravity

Gravity is the force that pulled matter together after the Big Bang, helping atoms clump into the first structures in the Universe.

Light and Electromagnetic Spectrum

Studying different kinds of light from stars and galaxies helps scientists learn about the Universe’s age, composition, and history.

The Scale of the Universe

Understanding just how vast the Universe is helps us grasp the incredible journey from the Big Bang to where we are today.

Dark Matter

Most of the Universe is made of invisible matter called dark matter. We can’t see it, but it affects how galaxies move and hold together.

Collective Learning and Science

The Big Bang Theory is built on generations of discoveries, showing how humans learn about things no one can directly observe.

Big Idea

Music (especially percussion!) can represent big ideas like the creation of the universe. We can use sound to show how things grow louder (crescendo) or quieter (decrescendo), just like the Big Bang went from nothing to everything.

This video goes over Crescendo/Decrescendo

Crescendo-Decrescendo

3 Part Cards (canva template)

Part 1: What Are Percussion Instruments?

Choose Your Instrument! | Percussion

An introduction to different percussion instruments

Guided Discussion (with real/toy instruments or pictures)

• “What do all these instruments have in common?”
• “How do we make sound with them?”
• “Why do you think they’re called percussion instruments?”

Explain: Percussion instruments make sound when we hit, shake, or scrape them. They can be loud or quiet, fast or slow, and are great at showing energy—just like the universe had a lot of energy when it first began!

Part 2: Music as a Way to Show Ideas

• “Can music tell a story or show a feeling, even without words?”
• “How might music sound if something was being born, or growing, or exploding?”
• “What would a ‘nothing’ sound like?” (Let them try silence!)
• “What does it sound like when something gets louder and louder?”

Introduce Vocabulary:

• Crescendo = getting louder
• Decrescendo = getting quieter

Let them try making crescendos and decrescendos with:

• Body percussion (clapping, stomping)
• Instruments (drums, shakers, rhythm sticks)

Part 3: Activity – Big Bang Sound Circle

1. Start with total silence.
2. Start with a soft sound.
3. Gradually getting louder (crescendo).
4. Reach a giant BOOM! together (Big Bang moment).
5. Then slowly fade to quiet (decrescendo), like the energy spreading out and cooling.

Part 4: The Big Bang in Music – Listening to “Also sprach Zarathustra”

Listening Prompt

• Play the opening 2 minutes of “Also sprach Zarathustra” by Richard Strauss. If you can, dim the lights to help them visualize.
• Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra / Dudamel · Berliner Philharmoniker

Guided Questions Before Listening:

• “What do you think it would sound like if the whole universe was just beginning?”
• “Can music tell us when something important is about to happen?”
• “How does it feel when things grow louder and more powerful?”

During Listening:

• Close their eyes and imagine the beginning of everything.
• Raise their hands slowly as the music builds (a physical action to represent crescendo).
• Tap gently or use body percussion to mirror the build-up.

After Listening Discussion:

• “What did you hear at the beginning?”
• “When did it feel like the Big Bang happened?”
• “What happened to the sound after that big moment?”
• “How did the music make you feel?”

Wrap-Up Discussion Prompts:

• “How did it feel when the music started quietly and grew?”
• “What did we learn about how sound can show change?”
• “Could we tell a story like this without words? What else could we use music to show?”

Goal

Learners will hear stories about the world starting from darkness or emptiness (an abyss), imagine their own story, and compare this to how the Big Bang also begins with “nothing” and then creates everything.

1. What Is a Creation Story?

• “A long time ago, people told stories to explain how the world began. These are called creation stories. Can you think of how the world started?”

2. Read a Generic Example of an Abyss Tale

“A long time ago, there was only dark water everywhere. No land, no animals, no people — just water and darkness. Then, a little light appeared, and the earth and sky began.”

3. Talk About the Story

• Ask: “What was there at the start?” (darkness, nothing)
• Say: In these stories, the world began from emptiness or darkness, sometimes called an abyss.

4. Read Together Two Simple Creation Myths

Suggested (but could be substituted for any other creation myths)

• Gaia: Goddess of the Earth
• Pangu Separates the Sky from the Earth: A Chinese Creation Myth by Anita Yasuda

5. Incorporate the Big Bang

• A long time ago, scientists tell us the world began with a big event called the Big Bang. At first, there was nothing — just emptiness, like a dark, empty space. Then, BOOM! Everything started—light, stars, planets, and eventually our Earth and us!
• How is this like the creation myths you’ve heard?

6. Imagination Time: What Would You See?

• Ask learners to close their eyes and imagine a big dark space with nothing in it. Then imagine something coming out — like light, stars, or land. Discuss or draw their ideas.

7. Make Your Own Beginning Story

• Help kids create a short story about how the world started from darkness or emptiness.
• “What was the dark place like? What came out of it? What did the world look like?”
• They don’t need to physically write the story down, but might enjoy if you wrote it down for them so that others could read it (and feel free to share it in the discussion!)

8. Closing

• Say: “People long ago told stories about how the world began from the dark and empty abyss. Scientists tell us what we know about the beginning of the universe — the Big Bang — it starts with nothing and creates everything we see! All these stories help us wonder about how special the world is.”

Narrations give you a window into what’s going on inside your student’s mind. They help solidify learning and practice clear expression.

How to do it:

• Oral narration – Ask your student to tell you what they learned, in their own words. Use gentle prompts (“What happened first?” “Can you tell me more about…?”) to guide them.
• Draw & tell – The student draws a picture about what they learned, then explains it to you.
• Draw with labels – As they grow more confident, encourage them to label parts of their drawing to show understanding.
• Write or trace a sentence – Younger learners can copy or trace a sentence you provide; older learners can write their own summary sentence or short paragraph.

This activity reviews the science content while helping students write richer, more descriptive sentences.

Because/But/So A

• The Big Bang was important because
• The Big Bang was important but
• The Big Bang was important so

Because/But/So B

• The universe kept expanding because
• The universe kept expanding but
• The universe kept expanding so

Fragments are incomplete thoughts. Students identify and rewrite them so they make sense.

The beginning of everything in space.

Tie grammar lessons to science vocabulary.

Find the Noun A

• The universe began with the Big Bang.
• A tiny point had all the matter.
• The expansion made stars and planets.
• Scientists look at the sky.
• The idea is called the Big Bang Theory.

Find the Noun B

The Big Bang was a powerful event that started the universe. In the beginning, all matter and energy were packed into a tiny point called a singularity. After the explosion, the universe began to grow. Over time, galaxies, stars, and planets formed. Today, scientists study space, radiation, and the expansion of the cosmos to learn more about this amazing idea.

Verbs in Motion A

1. The universe exploded into existence during the Big Bang.
2. Tiny particles raced through space as everything expanded.
3. Matter spread out in every direction.
4. Energy blasted out in all directions.
5. The universe keeps expanding even today.
6. Scientists study the cosmic background to learn more about the Big Bang.
7. Space stretched faster than the speed of light.
8. Time started at the moment of the Big Bang.
9. The universe expanded rapidly in all directions.

Verbs in Motion B

1. The universe ___________________ into existence during the Big Bang.
2. Tiny particles ___________________ through space as everything expanded.
3. Matter ___________________ out in every direction.
4. Energy ___________________ out in all directions.
5. The universe keeps ___________________ even today.
6. Scientists ___________________ the cosmic background to learn more about the Big Bang.
7. Space ___________________ faster than the speed of light.
8. Time ___________________ at the moment of the Big Bang.
9. The universe ___________________ rapidly in all directions.

Sort Nouns and Verbs A

The Big Bang

space

time

bang

expand

explode

burst

create

stretch

Sort Nouns and Verbs B

• universe
• exploded
• particles
• stretched
• time
• filled
• energy

• collided
• space
• cooled
• atoms
• expanded
• burst
• light

• pushed
• gravity
• began
• heat
• flashed

Reinforce handwriting, spelling, and attention to detail while reviewing science. Some options below.

• The universe began with the Big Bang.
• The Big Bang was not an explosion in space, but the sudden expansion of space itself.