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Education
This page provides resources to explore five scientific topics underlying the Galaxy Zoo Tidal Tales project: galaxy basics, evolution, & mergers, the Euclid space telescope, and Galaxy Zoo's previous work with Euclid.
Under each topic, you will see designated educator resources (lesson plans, student worksheets, assessments, and online courses) and background information resources (articles, videos, textbook chapters, and blogs.) Make sure to read the "audience" and "type" tag under each resource to determine which resource meets your needs.
Topic 1: Galaxy basics
The resources below provide an overview of galaxy basics. Learn more about what a galaxy is, types of galaxies, and where galaxies fit into the scale of the Universe.
Topic 1 Educator Resources
Size and Scale of the Universe: Teacher Guide, Student Worksheet, Slides
In this hands-on activity, students learn about the different realms of the Universe and explore their sizes and relative scales. The full version of this activity involves students doing simple math computations.
Audience: Ages 13+, Formal Education (California State Science Content Standards, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), National Science Education Standards (NSES), AAAS Benchmarks for Science Literacy)
Type: Hands-On Activity, Teacher Guide, Student Worksheet
Galaxies: Link (Select "Session 9 - Galaxies")
Students make a model of our Milky Way Galaxy and see how our Sun and the Earth fit into it. They learn that our galaxy is only one of billions of galaxies, and that galaxies have different shapes.
Audience: Ages 11+, Formal Education
Type: Hands-On Activity, Activity Instructions
Make a Pinwheel Galaxy Pinwheel: Link
Make a pinwheel of the spiral-shaped galaxy M101, known as the Pinwheel Galaxy.
Audience: Ages 8+, Informal Education
Type: Hands-On Activity
Make a Galaxy Montage: Link
Make a colorful work of galactic art using coffee filters, markers and construction paper. (English or Spanish version)
Audience: Ages 5+, Informal Education
Type: Hands-On Activity
Topic 1 Background Information
¿Qué es una galaxia?: Link
Las galaxias son concentraciones de estrellas, gas, polvo y materia oscura. Tienen diversas formas y tamaños. Algunas están destinadas a colisionar, como la Vía Láctea y Andrómeda.
Audience: Ages 11+, Background Information
Type: Video
Galaxy Basics: Link
Read about the definition of a galaxy, the shapes and ages of galaxies, and our home galaxy.
Audience: Ages 11+, Background Information
Type: Article
What Is a Galaxy?: Link
Learn what a galaxy is, how many galaxies there are, and what shapes they exist in.
Audience: Ages 8+, Background Information
Type: Article
Topic 2: Galaxy evolution
Galaxy Zoo: Tidal Tales investigates how galaxies evolve through influencing or colliding with one another. The resources below detail different ways galaxies evolve and how telescopes allow us to look into the past to study the stages of galaxy evolution.
Topic 2 Background Information
Galaxies Over Time: Link
Determine how astronomers use telescopes to study galaxies across cosmic time, including examples of interacting systems.
Audience: Ages 14+, Background Information
Type: Article
Webb Science: Galaxies Through Time: Link
A video and article explainer on "galaxies through time," describing how Webb helps fill in the missing pages of the universe's history and what that means for galaxy evolution.
Audience: Ages 14+, Background Information
Type: Video, Article
Galaxy Evolution: Link
NASA's galaxy evolution page, with sections on formation, collisions, mergers, and "galactic cannibalism," and how all of these shape galaxies over time.
Audience: Ages 11+, Background Information
Type: Article
How Old Are Galaxies?: Link
Learn how old galaxies are and how we use telescopes to look back in time.
Audience: Ages 8+, Background Information
Type: Article
Topic 3: Galaxy mergers and the tidal features they create
Galaxy Zoo: Tidal Tales looks for features of a galaxy that indicate it has merged or interacted with another galaxy. These features, called tidal features, include tails, streams, fans, and shells. In this section, there are resources to learn what merging galaxies look like and what we can learn from studying them.
Topic 3 Background Information
When Galaxies Collide: Hubble Showcases 6 Beautiful Galaxy Mergers: Link
"When Galaxies Collide": an ESA/Hubble press release and image montage showing six different galaxy mergers, with a description of why interactions are key to galaxy evolution.
Audience: Ages 16+, Background Information
Type: Press Release
Galaxies - Merging and Interacting: Link
A short overview from the Center for Astrophysics on merging and interacting galaxies, why they're common, and what they teach us about how galaxies grow.
Audience: Ages 14+, Background Information
Type: Article
Galaxy Details and Mergers: Link
This source provides Hubble images of galaxies merging. Videos and image captions explain the process of merging and the features that result.
Audience: Ages 12+, Background Information
Type: Videos, Images
Galaxy Mergers: Past and Present: Link
In this video, Dr. Jennifer Wiseman goes in-depth on galaxy mergers and how important Hubble is to exploring the mysteries of the universe.
Audience: Ages 11+, Background Information
Type: Video
Topic 4: The Euclid space telescope
The images you are reviewing in Galaxy Zoo: Tidal Tales were captured by the Euclid space telescope. Euclid is a European Space Agency mission with critical contributions from NASA. In this section learners can explore what Euclid is studying and how, the process of creating images from telescopes, and how various types of telescopes work.
Topic 4 Educator Resources
How does my eye compare to the telescope?: Teacher Guide, Student Journal
These introductory activities help you compare the features of your own eye to those of the telescope. Estimate your eye's aperture, field-of-view, "exposure time," and other parameters.
Audience: Ages 12+, Formal Education
Type: Hands-On Activities, Lesson Plan, Student Worksheet
The Astronomer's Toolbox: Telescopes: Link (Select "Session 3 - The Astronomer's Toolbox: Telescopes" )
Students assemble a simple version of a telescope and model the time it takes for information to reach us.
Audience: Ages 11+, Formal Education
Type: Hands-On Activity, Instructions
Kinesthetic Telescope: Link
A physical activity to put yourself in the shoes (or stand!) of a telescope.
Audience: Ages 10+, Formal Education, Informal Education
Type: Activity, Facilitator Guide
Topic 4 Background Information
Euclid (ESA Website): Link
ESA's Euclid science and technology page. Click through the tabs on the right side to learn more about the science behind the Euclid mission and the instruments on and modules of the spacecraft.
Audience: Ages 18+, Background Information
Type: Website
Euclid (NASA/Caltech Website): Link
NASA/Caltech's Euclid site, with a concise mission overview, survey description, and links to further materials about how Euclid studies dark energy and dark matter.
Audience: Ages 16+, Background Information
Type: Website
Euclid: Exploring the dark Universe: Link
View stories, videos, and images from the European Space Agency's official Euclid website.
Audience: Ages 14+, Background Information
Type: Website
ESA Previews Euclid Mission's Deep View of 'Dark Universe': Link
A NASA/ESA article using early Euclid data to explain what the mission will reveal about the "dark universe" and why its deep, sharp images of galaxies are scientifically powerful.
Audience: Ages 14+, Background Information
Type: Article
Why Do We Put Telescopes in Space?: Link
Hear about the advantages and disadvantages of placing telescopes in space rather than on earth in this video.
Audience: Ages 11+, Background Information
Type: Video
How Do Telescopes Work?: Link
This article explains how telescopes allow astronomers to see faraway objects with the use of lens or mirrors.
Audience: Ages 8+, Background Information
Type: Article
Topic 5: Galaxy Zoo's work with Euclid
Galaxy Zoo was launched in 2007 to classify millions of images from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey according to their shape. Due to its great success, the project has expanded to answer more research questions and classify images from multiple space telescopes. The resources below allow participants to learn more about the original Galaxy Zoo project and the impact it has made since 2007.
Topic 5 Background Information
Euclid opens data treasure trove, offers glimpse of deep fields: Link
An ESA article introducing Euclid's first data release, with early images from the deep fields and a discussion of how citizen science (including Galaxy Zoo) will help analyze these enormous datasets.
Audience: Ages 14+, Background Information
Type: Article
Galaxy Zoo: A Zooniverse Project Blog: Link
Galaxy Zoo blog, featuring behind-the-scenes stories, results, and explanations of how volunteer work connects to research.
Audience: Ages 14+, Background Information
Type: Blog
Galaxy Zoo featured in first Euclid data release!: Link
A Galaxy Zoo blog post describing how volunteers contributed to the first Euclid data release with linked articles and papers.
Audience: Ages 14+, Background Information
Type: Blog Post
Euclid Galaxy Zoo - help us classify the shapes of galaxies: Link
ESA's announcement about the Euclid x Galaxy Zoo collaboration, explaining how volunteer classifications support Euclid's science goals and why human pattern recognition is essential.
Audience: Ages 10+, Background Information
Type: Article
Galaxy Zoo (NASA page): Link
NASA's main Galaxy Zoo citizen science page, explaining how classifying galaxy shapes helps scientists study galaxy evolution and interactions.
Audience: Background Information
Type: Webpage
Galaxy Zoo (Zooniverse page): Link
The main Galaxy Zoo project page on Zooniverse, with background on the project, examples of galaxy images, and links to related materials.
Audience: Background Information
Type: Webpage