We are the children of the stars

Darryl Reanney, philosopher, scientist and author of the book "The Death of Forever", once observed that "we are the children of the stars".

It is an interesting slant on a big scientific idea, that helps us to discuss the subject in a very direct, personal and meaningful way.

When we look up at the night sky, we are observing our ancestry. The heavier atoms such as oxygen and iron from which our bodies are made, were forged in the furnaces of the stars, fused from the simpler elements of hydrogen and helium during the collapse of stars nearing the end of their lives, and then blasted into space. The dust from these gigantic galactic explosions, or supernovae, coalesced to form new stars and planets, and ultimately us.

On our own planet earth, these heavy elements are the foundation for life as we know it. The water in our bodies, the air we breathe, the iron to make haemaglobin which gives our blood the red color and transports oxygen around, the steel for knives and forks, houses, skyscrapers, cars or railway lines, which are the tools of our creation. A 14,000 million year journey.

So here's some questions for you and your science/philosophy students to consider:

1. When you look up at the night sky and see all the stars, what amazes you?
2. If light from the furthest part of the observable universe has taken 14,000 million years to reach us, what does this say about a human lifetime of 70-80 years, and our place in the universe?
3. Thinking about the idea that "we are the children of the stars" describe your ancestry over the past 14,000 million years.
4. Imagine you are an atom of oxygen(O), forged in a star 10,000 million years ago, that is now part of a water molecule (H20) in your body. Describe your journey...