To boldly know what no one has known before

Suitable for 14–19-year olds (secondary and high schools, and college), this article and accompanying activity sheet can be used in the classroom, in STEM clubs and at home.

This resource links to KS4 and KS5 astronomy and astrophysics.

It can also be used as a careers resource and links to Gatsby Benchmarks:
Gatsby Benchmark 2: Learning from career and labour market information
Gatsby Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers

• This teaching resource explains the work of Dr Gail Zasowski, from the University of Utah, USA. Her research seeks to better understand where and when our Milky Way galaxy formed its hundred billion stars, and help understand how the infant Milky Way grew into the massive spiral galaxy we see today.

• This resource also contains an interview with Gail and offers insight into careers in astronomy. If your students have questions for Gail, they can send the questions to her online by visiting the Futurum link below, scrolling down to the end and typing in the question(s). Gail will respond!

• The activity sheet provides ‘talking points’ (based on Bloom’s Taxonomy) to prompt students to reflect on Gail’s research and encourages them to contemplate why it is important to understand more about the Milky Way and how it might affect our understanding of other galaxies.

This resource was first published on Futurum Careers, a free online resource and magazine aimed at encouraging 14-19-year-olds worldwide to pursue careers in science, tech, engineering, maths, medicine (STEM) and social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE).

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