This article discusses how the evolution of stars from birth in giant clouds of gas and dust to death in catastrophic explosions sets the stage for planets and life to form. This article provides information about the Chandra X-Ray Center (CXC) educational website that contains a stellar evolution module that is available free to teachers (see the box Our Cosmic Connection clasroom activity on page 30 for website information). The stellar evolution activity uses multi-wavelength images of stellar nurseries, supernovae, neutron stars, pulsars, and black holes to investigate stellar life cycles and their connection to planet Earth.