Space Station Lessons
Lesson 1 - The International Space Station
Objectives:TSW understand what and where space station is. They will understand how there is no gravity and air where the space station is, and why it is important to conduct experiments there.
Procedure:TSW will explore all three sites, taking the virtual tour of the ISS.
Assessment:The students will answer these questions:
- How many nations are involved in the building of the Space Station?
- When will the Space Station be done?
- What is the reason for the space station?
- (Extra) How long has the current crew been at the station?
Lesson 2 - Earth from Space
Objectives:TSW understand the basic landforms of Earth as seen from space.
Procedure:TSW will explore the web site, finding six different pictures. They should also try to find a picture of their home.
Assessment:The students will find a picture of these different things, and print one.
- Find a picture of an island.
- Find a picture of a mountain.
- Find a picture of an urban area.
- Find a picture of a rainforest.
- Find a picture of a large river.
- Find a picture of a hurricane.
Lesson 3 - The Nine Planets
Objectives:Understanding the different members of our solar system. Learning the names order and brief description of each planet.
Procedure:Go to the nine planet web site and begin with the overview page. This gives a lot of basic information and is very concise. Once that page has been read, answer the questions about the site by brousing the different planets and moons.
Assessment: Answer the following questions using information gathered from the nine planets web site.
- What is the order of the planets in the solar system starting with the sun?
- What is order of the planets from smallest to biggest?
- What is Mercury's nickname?
- How hot does it get on Venus?
- How far is the Earth from the Sun? (in AU)
- On what date was the moon visited by humans?
- What is the most recent spacecraft to land on Mars?
- How many Earths would fit inside Jupiter?
- What is Jupiter's biggest moon?
- Which planets besides Saturn have rings?
- How many moons does Uranus have? Who are the moons named after?
- How big is Neptune's "Great dark spot" compared to Jupiter's "Great red spot"?
- How long is a year on pluto? (meaning one entire revolution around the sun)
Lesson 4 - Mars Virtual Landing
Objectives:Examine the atmosphereic differences on another planet. Look at possible landing sites for the eventual exploration to Mars.
Procedure:First visit the basic facts page. Write down some ideas about the atmosphere. What would the temperature be like? Would it be different at night than daytime? Could I breathe the air. What would the color of the sky be like? Could I get any water? Once the student has written down some ideas about what to expect, have them take the virtual landing. Was it what they expected?
Assessment: Have the student write about how Mars is different from Earth and how it is the same. Would they want to explore Mars? Why or why not?
Lesson 5 - How much would you weigh???
Objectives:Compare Earth's relative units of measure with those of other planets. Understand the reasons behind these differences.
Procedure:Student enters their weight and checks other planets to see what they would weigh on other planets. Why is there a difference? Check the same thing with the "How old would you be", Record both set of number in your notebook.
Assessment:Answer the following questions:
- Can you predict what needs to happen for your weight to be less than it is on Earth?
- What would need to happen to make it more?
- What kind of orbit make your age greater than it is on Earth?
- What kind of orbit make your age less than it is on Earth?
Lesson 6 - Solar System Simulator
Objectives: Understanding the physical makeup of the solar system in a firsthand way. The student will produce their own view of something interesting in our solar system.
Procedure:Using the pictures from the "Nine planets" site, choose a view you like and print it out.
Assessment:Why did you choose the view you did? What else do you know about this planet or moon? Have the student write a brief description of what made them choose the view they did. Go into detail, talking about the particular planet or moon you picked. You should be using everything you learned in this unit for this description.