Space Exploration and Travel Unit Curriculum and Assessment Plan |
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Unit/Strand: S&T - Grade 6: Space |
Topic: Earth and our Relationship with our Sun and Moon. |
Timeline: 2 to 3 weeks |
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END
OF TOPIC CULMINATING TASK(S)
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Expectations/Big Ideas: Technological and scientific advances that enabble humans to study space affect our lives Students will assess the impact of space exploration on society and the environment. Investigate the types of tools used for space exploration. Investigate the current and future types of spacecraft.
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Description of task: Students will write a report which which will require them the use scientific terminology, examples and diagrams to explaining the development of a future space traveling vehicle or where do they believe the space program will go next. The students will work on developing a replacement for the Space Shuttle Video:
What
will Replace the Space Shuttle? Download: Designing
a CEV - Student Version Write Say Do |
Assessment Tool: Rubric - will evaluate understanding and communication skills Checklist - will evaluate students' ability to meet identified criteria of an effective scientific response. |
Assessment Criteria/ Look Fors:
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BIG
IDEAS
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In order to operate in space, spacecraft - both robotic and manned - must overcome earth's gravity to travel to space and into orbit. This requires huge amounts of energy. They must then be able to operate in the harsh environments of space. |
SUMMARY
OF CONTENT
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Activity in space was initially
motivated by politics (the space race between USSR and USA), military
(hundreds of secret spy satellites), as well as science and technology.
Peaceful uses of space include: communication, remote sensing, weather,
search-and-rescue, GPS, mapping, and scientific research including Hubble
Space Telescope. Then there are studies of physiology, engineering, and
manufacturing in space. And exploration (we do it because "it's there").
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CURRICULUM
EXPECTATIONS
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2.5 use a variety of forms (e.g., oral, written, graphic, multimedia) to communicate with different audiences and for a variety of purposes (e.g., use a graphic organizer to identify and order main ideas and supporting details for a report about how science and technology can help humans adapt to life in space) 3.4 identify the technological tools and devices needed for space exploration (e.g., telescopes, spectroscopes, spacecraft, life-support systems)
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ENABLING
LESSONS LEADING UP TO THE CULMINATING TASK
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Lesson Goal(s) and/or Focus of Instruction |
Description
of Student task
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Diagnostic
or Formative Assessment
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Assessment
tool
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How will you know when each child has reached the goals? Assessment Criteria/Look Fors: | |
1C | Students will complete a diagnostic questionaire to determine prior knowledge and misconceptions they bring into the key learning of space exploration technology and travel |
Write
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D
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anecdotal
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Download:
Space Exploration
and Travel Diagnostic |
2C |
A beginning to learning about space exploration would be to examine the history of space exploration. Video:
A
Brief History of Space Link:
Tools
for Exploration Lesson: Astonomers and Their Tools
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Write/ Do
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D
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anecdotal
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At the end of the lesson, students
will make a poster on based on what they learned. |
3C | This lesson reinforces the information the students learned in 2C to explore a planet. This activity demonstrates how planetary features are discovered by the use of remote sensing techniques Download: Planetary Exploration - lesson plan Download: Planetary Exploration - student worksheet Download: Planetary Exploration - total |
Write/ Do
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D
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checklist/
conference
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Students will submit their
Planetary Explorations - Student worksheet.
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3C |
Telescopes collect and, with instruments, measure and study light and other radiation from objects in space. They make them look brighter and more distinct. This lesson helps students to understand how telescopes work and how they can contribute to our knowledge of the universe Lesson Lesson on Telescopes Telescopes in space (e.g. Hubble) do not suffer from the blurring effect of Earth's atmosphere, and produce stunning images Link Hubble Images “Telescopes From the Ground Up” traces the history of telescope development and highlights the interplay between technological and scientific advances. In this modular activity, milestones in telescope development are highlighted in the 10 sections called “eras,” with specific examples included in the associated “telescope pages.” The human component is integrated through the biography pages, which provide a glimpse of the inventors and astronomers behind the telescopes. The science of light and telescopes is presented in the section “Get to the Root of It,” which can be used for review, learning the basics, or remediation. Depending on the teacher’s objective, “Get to the Root of It” can be accessed prior to doing the activity and/or while working through the eras and telescope pages. Link Telescopes from the Ground Up Note: At one time, Canada had
two of the three largest telescopes in the world! And we are now partners
in all the biggest telescopes. |
Do
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F
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checklist
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Students submit the websearch worksheet and build a telescope. The student will successfully build a Galileoscope |
4C |
This lesson the students will build a model Canarm and endeffector. Video:
STS 132: Canadarm Lesson: Build Your Own Robot Arm and Endeffector Lesson:
Canadarm Extender |
Do
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D
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conference
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The sudents will build an Canadarm Extender and see if they can move the sticky balls to the payload bay of the space shuttle. |
5C |
Video
Robonaut 2 Ready
for ISS Link
Wikipedia Robonaut |
Do
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D
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ancedotal
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At the end of the lesson the
teacher leads a brainstorming session of key learning of the day and have
the students make jot notes.
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6C |
The first activity
will place students in the role of scientists as they use observational
and critical thinking skills to analyze and hypothesize about an image
of Mars. Students will determine what they think to be scientifically
interesting by making visual observations and rank their observations
in order of importance. The second activity allows students to gain experience in the use of maps, measurements and observations to determine location of objects as they try and find the location of the rovers Download: Second Activity: The Rover has landed but Where? The third activity
is to have the rover driver design and execute a series of commands that
will guide a human rover through a simulated Martian surface, allowing
the rover team to experience some of the challenges of teleoperating a
robotic vehicle on another planet. |
Do
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D
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anecdotal
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In activity one, the students will complete the assigned questions. Download: Student Worksheet - Greetings for Gusev In activity two, the students will complete the activity Download: Student Worksheet - Where is the Rover? In the third activity, the students will successfully navigate the rover course
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7C |
Students work on developing
a six-page-high chart showing five layers of Earth’s atmosphere. They
cut out pictures of NASA aircraft, satellites, and spacecraft and graph
where these NASA vehicles fly or orbit. |
Write
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D
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anecdotal
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The students will complete a six page chart showing where vehicles currently fly or orbit. |
8C |
Students will learn about the about the first vehicle used to get into space. Initially the students will read a Pictoral History of Rockets and How Rockets Work. Which will help them understand the basic principles of rocketry. Lesson History of Rockets (page 25) Download: A Pictoral History of Rockets Download:
How Rockets
Work Students then complete an activity
to construct balloon-powered rockets to launch the greatest payload possible
to the classroom ceiling. |
Read/ Do
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D
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anecdotal
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At the end of the activity,
Heavy Lifting, each student team will: |
9C |
This lesson the students learn
about one of the work horses of the space program, the space shuttle.
Powerpoint: Shuttle Powerpoint This lesson serves as an intermediate introduction to the Space Shuttle systems. If you have the resources and time students can participate in an activity where they serve as console engineers for a launch countdown. This activity is based on the actual software currently used for training at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Control Center, this software enables a launch countdown simulation with a networked system of computers. Download KLASS Software Download Paper Model of Shuttle Link: Orbitor and Payload Tour Link: Space Shuttle Webpage Video Shuttle Launch Video Shuttle Launch from Inside Orbiter
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Write
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D
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anecdotal
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10C |
In learning about “Launching Ares,” students read the text “From Earth to the Moon and Beyond,” which offers a historical context for U.S. space exploration. It includes a discussion of the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs, as well as a closer look at Ares, the next generation of launch vehicles. Download Teachers Lesson From the Earth to the Moon and Beyond (page 34) Download Student Text From Earth to the Moon and Beyond (page 34) Video
Return
to the Moon: The Journey Begins Now, Video :Real World: Putting Together Ares 1-X
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Write
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D
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anecdotal
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At the end of the lesson the
teacher leads a brainstorming session of key learning of the day and have
the students make jot notes. |
11C |
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Write
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D
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anecdotal
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Each student
will be used to develop a poster profile of their astronaut or astronomer,
including a picture in poster format.
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GLOSSARY
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communication satellite | An artificial satellite used for relaying communications (such as TV) from one location on earth to another. |
orbit |
An orbit is a elliptical (closed) path that an object takes as it revolves around another body. |
outer space | everything beyond Earth's atmosphere |
payload | The payload is the cargo carried on the Space Shuttle or other spacecraft. |
remote sensing | Remote sensing is the gathering of data from a distance. For example, spacecraft are sent into space with devices designed to study objects and phenomena and then send the information back to Earth. |
robot | A machine to carry out tasks, under instructions from humans. |
rocket | A rocket is a machine that propels itself and a payload into space. |
space junk | The proper term is "space debris". It's human-made debris that orbits the earth. |
spacecraft | Spacecraft are vehicles that travel beyond the Earth's atmosphere. |
telescope | A device to collect light (or other radiation) and bring it to a focus, where it can be studied with camera, spectrographs or other instruments. |
weightless |
Weightlessness (or free fall) is the state in which an object appears to have no weight (but the object's mass remains the same). During weightlessness, the apparent gravitational pull on an object is negligible (close to zero). |
MISCONCEPTIONS
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CANADIAN
CONTENT OR CONTRIBUTION
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