A galaxy is a massive group of stars, star clusters, cosmic gas and dust, and dark matter, which is all gravitationally bound together. There are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the Universe, they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes but the three most common types are spiral galaxies, barred spiral galaxies and elliptical galaxies.
The galaxy in which our Solar System lies is called the Milky Way. Without this galaxy, life would likely not have flourished on Earth.
In this activity students will learn about galaxies while putting they creative skillsto practise in a drawing and writing exercise.
Galaxy Shape Poem Teacher Guide
Full Instructions
Learning Objectives
- Develop an understanding of the vast number and variety of galaxies in the Universe,
- Use creative thinking and practice literacy skills to create a shape poem
Materials
Per student
- Printed Spiral Galaxy Factsheet per student
- Printed Galaxy Template per student
- Scrap paper
- Pencil
Background Science
A galaxy is a massive group of stars, star clusters, interstellar gas and dust, and dark matter which is all gravitationally bound together. There are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the Universe, they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes but the three most common types are spiral galaxies, barred spiral galaxies and elliptical galaxies.
The most common type of galaxy is called a “spiral galaxy”. Spiral galaxies look like spirals, with long arms winding toward a bright bulge at the centre.
About 70% of the galaxies in the local Universe are spiral galaxies. Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is a typical spiral galaxy.
Spiral Galaxy: Some spiral galaxies have arms that are wound tightly, while other galaxies have very loosely-wound arms. The arms of a spiral galaxy have lots of gas and dust, and they are often areas where new stars are constantly forming. The bulge of a spiral galaxy is composed primarily of old, red stars. Very little star formation goes on in the bulge.
Barred-spiral Galaxy: Barred spiral galaxies are spiral galaxies with a long bar in the middle, with spiral arms coming off the ends. Around two-thirds of all spiral galaxies are barred-spirals, including our galaxy, the Milky Way. Like spiral and elliptical galaxies, barred-spirals are thought to have a black hole lurking in their centres.
Elliptical galaxy: Elliptical galaxies are named after their shape (an ellipse is a stretched circle shape). Elliptical galaxies are made up of mostly old stars, and do not have much gas and dust. There is very little new star formation in these galaxies. Elliptical galaxies also come in many sizes. The largest galaxies we see are ellipticals, but, elliptical galaxies can also be small. About 60% of all galaxies are ellipticals.
Step-by-Step
1) Hand each student a Spiral Galaxy Factsheet.
2) Each student will also need a pencil, a piece of scrap paper and either a sheet of plain paper or a Galaxy Template.
3) Ask the class to read the paragraph about their galaxy on the worksheet.
4) Then ask the students to draw an outline of their object. Note: If you chose to provide each student with a Galaxy Template, you may skip this step.
5) They will then create a Shape Poem. To do this, ask the student to write a poem on a spare piece of paper about space and spiral galaxies based on the information on their fact sheet and their current knowledge of space.
6) Once finished, they will then copy their poem out along the outline of their galaxy, following its shape (see the example in the photograph above).
7) You may ask the students to come to the front of the class one at a time and share their work, showcasing their picture and reading their poem. Look for students who have included the specified features of spiral galaxies: spiral arms, black hole, disc, central bulge, gas, stars.
Conclusion
Now that your class is familiar with what a galaxy is and what they look like, use the robotic telescopes to take three pictures, one of each type of galaxy: spiral, barred-spiral and elliptical.