Galaxies with Nicknames
Students learn the main galaxy shapes (spiral, barred spiral, elliptical, lenticular and irregular) through famous nicknamed examples, and connect each shape to clues about a galaxy's gas, star formation and history of interactions.
Grades 5-8About 15 minutes of narrated flight, plus discussion stops8 stops
The full guide, with the 40-minute plan, discussion key points, exit ticket, activities, transcript and PDF, comes with a teacher license. Already licensed? Use Open the full guide.
What students will see and do
Students fly from the Milky Way to the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101), Bode's Galaxy (M81), the Cigar Galaxy (M82), the Sombrero Galaxy (M104), the giant elliptical M87, the Triangulum Galaxy and the Large Magellanic Cloud. Aetherion pauses at the Sombrero (why classification can be tricky), M87 (clues that stars are old) and the Large Magellanic Cloud (why sky objects have many names).
Learning objectives
- Identify spiral, barred spiral, elliptical, lenticular and irregular galaxies from their shapes.
- Explain why spiral arms glow with young blue stars while elliptical galaxies look smooth and reddish.
- Describe how interactions with neighbors can change a galaxy's shape.
- Compare the sizes and distances of several well known galaxies.
NGSS connections
| MS-ESS1-2 | Gravity shapes galaxies, holds their stars together and drives interactions between neighbors. |
|---|---|
| MS-ESS1-3 | Students compare the sizes, distances and properties of different galaxies. |
| MS-PS4-2 | Star colors and infrared glow show how light carries information about galaxies. |
Stops on this journey
- Sorting Galaxies by Shape
- The Pinwheel Galaxy
- Bode's Galaxy
- The Cigar Galaxy
- The Sombrero Galaxy (discussion stop)
- A Giant Elliptical (discussion stop)
- The Triangulum Galaxy
- An Irregular Neighbor (discussion stop)
Vocabulary
- spiral galaxy
- barred spiral
- elliptical galaxy
- lenticular galaxy
- irregular galaxy
- bulge
- globular cluster
- starburst