OUR EXPANDING INTERGALACTIC ROADMAP: Humankind's Relationship with Space from Mythology to Mars Rovers
Essential Questions:
- How have humans viewed the stars and our place in space from ancient times to the present?
- How big is the universe and how is it arranged?
- How do computer programs, robotics, and technology allow us to explore new frontiers of space?
- What is the future of space travel and interplanetary colonization?
- Is there life out there somewhere?
Content:
- The scale, the arrangement and the formation of our solar system and the space beyond
- Comparative views and models of the cosmos throughout time and across cultures
- The mass and movement of the Earth and the moon and its effects on our days, years, seasons, lunar cycles, eclipses and gravity
- Computer programming, robotics, and mars rovers
- Probing the past and predicting the future of our space program
- Examining evidence of extraterrestrial life
Skills and Processes:
- Building models to demonstrate the scale of the solar system and the relative sizes of the eight planets
- Examining past and present ideas of how the cosmos are organized
- Manipulating models to explore the movement of Earth, the moon, and our celestial neighbors
- Programming Lego robotics mars rovers to complete a sequence of tasks remotely
- Analyzing evidence and discussing the likelihood of mars colonization and extraterrestrial life
Assessment:
- Solar system scale models
- Humankind's shifting views of space timeline
- Mars Rover Lego Robotics programming challenge
- 'Reasons for the Seasons' kinesthetic performance
- Class discussions
- Unit Test
Resources:
- FOSS Planetary Science Curricula
- Stellarium planetary software
- Celestia 3D space simulation
- NSTA Project Earth Science: Astronomy Curricula
Multicultural Dimension:
- Analyzing diverse cultural perspectives on the space above and the stories of the stars
- The importance of international competition and cooperation for the development and continuation of space exploration
Integrated Learning:
- The use of ratios to produce scale models of the solar system
- The historical under-pinnings of the space race
- Technology and computer programming as it relates to space science