An Interactive Lesson on the Hubble System of Classifying Galaxies

• Grade Levels:  5 - 9
• Time Requirements:
• Preparation Time for teacher:  2 hours
• explore lesson online ahead of time
• save online worksheets to your computer and print hard copies for students.
• Class Time Required: two class periods
• Student Prerequisites: fifth grade reading level

• Topics Covered by This Lesson:
• What is a galaxy?
• Hubble classification of galaxies
• Practice in using Hubble classification system as an example of how scientists classify objects in nature.

• Brief Overview:
• Students will observe examples of galaxies that have different shapes.
• Students will observe how the galaxy classification system of Edwin Hubble assigns galaxies to different groups according to their shapes .
• Students will attempt to categorize unknown galaxies according to the Hubble classification descriptors.
• Unit Features:
• Teacher Lesson Plan
• Worksheets and answer keys which can be printed for classroom/teacher use
• Images:
• Images from telescopes all over the world show the vast variety of galaxies.
• Interactive classification practice with galaxy images.
• Hotlinks to other useful astronomy websites.
• Materials Required For This Lesson:  All materials provided on-line.

 Kudos and Awards

 

SEGway	Center for Science Education	Science Museum of Virginia
Send comments or questions to George & Jane Hastings or outreach@ssl.berkeley.edu
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