Olivia Park Elementary School

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Galaxies

Lesson Plans
  1. Glassifying Galaxies (University of California - Hastings and Hastings)
      Provides two lessons to help students learn how to classify galaxies. 3-01
Materials
  1. Galaxies (University of Michigan)
  2. Galaxies - The Milky Way (University of Michigan)
Papers
  1. Andromeda Galaxy (Discovery.com)
      Provides a short description of our nearest spiral galaxy. 3-02
  2. Hubble Deep Field (Discovery.com)
      Provides faint images from a tiny sliver of the universe by pointing the Hubble Telescope in the same place for 10 days. "By studying Hubble deep field, scientists hope to answer many questions about the number, evolution, and ultimate fate of galaxies in the universe." 3-02
  3. Hubble Finds Most Distant Galaxies (CNN)
      Includes a picture of galaxies believed to be 95 percent back to the time when the universe began, using an infrared camera.
  4. Milky Way Galaxy (Discovery.com)
      Provides a tour of major objects in our galaxy, as well as other nearby galaxies. 3-02
  5. Motion of Matter at the Center of a Galaxy Filmed (Nature - Clarke)
      Provides the first animation of the movement of matter at the center of a galaxy. 3-02
  6. Types of Galaxies (Discovery.com)
      "Galaxies are enormous swarms of stars, dust, gas, and dark matter held together by gravity." The types (or shapes) are spiral, elliptical, and irregular. 3-02
  7. Unusual Galaxies (Discovery.com)
      Describes the Siamese Twins, the Sombrero Galaxy, and the Polar Ring Galaxy. 3-02
  8. Virgo Cluster of Galaxies (Discovery.com)
      Presents the nearest cluster of galaxies. "Our own cluster of galaxies, the Local Group, is part of a larger collection of over one hundred clusters called the Local Supercluster. At the center of this supercluster is the Virgo cluster. "The Virgo cluster is also the largest cluster of the supercluster, with over two thousand galaxies of different sizes and shapes."

      "At about 50 million light-years away, the Virgo cluster is the closest cluster to the Milky Way. And its mass is so great, our Local Group is being pulled toward the Virgo cluster at about 168 miles per second." The speed of 168 miles per second is approximately 600,000 miles per hour. 3-02
Projects
  1. Astrophotography (About.com - Vest)
      Provides tips and suggestions for photographing objects in the night sky. Includes pictures of galaxies, nebula, stars, comets, and constellations. 2-01