The Bridge V Learning Edition 1 ; our solar system | Page 51

Curriculum topic
Galaxies Education level
Secondary School, Informal Location
Indoors (small, e.g. classroom)
Big idea of science
Earth is a very small part of
the universe. Time
1h Core skills
Planning and carrying out
investigations, Analysing and
interpreting data,
Constructing explanations,
Communicating information
Keywords
Galaxies
Age range
14 - 19
Group size
Group
Supervised for safety
Unsupervised
Cost
Low (< ~5 EUR)
Type of learning activity
Full enquiry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
This classroom activity for high school students uses a collection of Hubble Space Telescope
images of galaxies in the Coma Cluster. Students study galaxy classification and the evolution of
galaxies in dense clustered environments.
GOALS
ˆ Students will learn the basics of galaxy classification by making use of real astronomical
data from the Hubble Space Telescope. Classification is a scientific practice important in
many different fields of science; by simplifying a diversity of objects into a smaller
number of categories, it becomes easier to see what characteristics are shared by many
objects, and study these properties of representative objects, rather than each object
individually.
ˆ Students will discover a "morphology-density effect" and then make hypotheses about
the causes of this effect.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
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Students will be able to classify different galaxy types based on astronomical images.
Students will explain the importance of classifying objects.
Students will propose ideas for why galaxies might have different shapes.
Students will practice asking questions and planning investigations.
Students will discuss the ideas that there are physically different environments
throughout the universe that galaxies live in, that galaxies interact, and that there is a
relationship between environment and galaxy morphology (called the "morphology-
density effect").
ˆ Students will make hypotheses about the cause of the morphology-density effect.
EVALUATION
www.space-awareness.org