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Learning about the Stars and Constellations

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Learning about the Stars and Constellations

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During these lessons, students will discover how stars are viewed from Earth and how they appear to move in our night's sky.

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To intertwine scientific knowledge and practices and to empower students to learn through exploration, it is essential for scientific inquiry to be embedded in science education. While there are many types of inquiry-based models, one model that I've grown to appreciate and use is called the FERA Learning Cycle, developed by the National Science Resources Center (NSRC):

1. Focus

2. Explore

3. Reflect

4. Apply

A framework for implementation can be found here.

I absolutely love how the Center for Inquiry Science at the Institute for Systems Biology explains that this is "not a locked-step method" but "rather a cyclical process," meaning that some lessons may start off at the focus phase while others may begin at the explore phase.

Finally, an amazing articlefound at Edudemic.com, How Inquiry-Based Learning Works with STEM, very clearly outlines how inquiry based learning "paves the way for effective learning in science" and supports College and Career Readiness, particularly in the area of STEM career choices.
Unit Explanation
In this unit, students begin by studying the location of the Earth in the Universe. Then, students learn about the brightness of stars through investigations and research. At the end of this unit, students explore the patterns on Earth, such as day/night and the length of shadows.
Summary of Lesson
Today, I open the lesson by showing time-lapse videos of stars and constellations moving in the night sky. Students then explore the difference between circumpolar and seasonal stars through hands-on models, videos, and online research. At the end of the lesson, students reflect and apply their new understanding of the apparent movement of constellations to construct an evidence-based argument.
Next Generation Science Standards
This lesson will support the following NGSS Standard(s):

5-ESS1-2. Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky.
Scientific & Engineering Practices
For this lesson, students are engaged in Science & Engineering Practice:

Science & Engineering Practice 8:

Students obtain, evaluate, and communicate information on the apparent movement of constellations using a variety of resources (interactive star map, planisphere, videos, modeled demonstration, and online resources).
Crosscutting Concepts
To relate ideas across disciplinary content, during this lesson I focus on the following Crosscutting Concept:

Crosscutting Concept 2: Cause and Effect

Students evaluate what causes the apparent movement of constellations in the sky.
Disciplinary Core Ideas
In addition, this lesson also aligns with the following Disciplinary Core Ideas:

ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System
ELA Integration
The orbits of Earth around the sun and of the moon around Earth, together with the rotation of Earth about an axis between its North and South poles, cause observable patterns. These include day and night; daily changes in the length and direction of shadows; and different positions of the sun, moon, and stars at different times of the day, month, and year. (5-ESS1-2)
Choosing Science Teams
To add depth to student understanding, when I can, I'll often integrate ELA standards with science lessons. Today, students will work on meeting CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.7: Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently. In this lesson, students will be using multiple resources to locate key information involving the apparent movement of constellations. In addition, this lesson supports CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. After researching how stars seems to move, students write an informative paragraph to convey their ideas.
Gathering Supplies & Assigning Roles
With science, it is often difficult to find a balance between providing students with as many hands-on experiences as possible, having plenty of science materials, and offering students a collaborative setting to solve problems. Any time groups have four or more students, the opportunities for individual students to speak and take part in the exploration process decreases. With groups of two, I often struggle to find enough science materials to go around. So this year, I chose to place students in teams of two or three! Picking science teams is always easy as I already have students placed in desk groups based upon behavior, abilities, and communication skills. Each desk group has about six kids, so I simply divide this larger group in half or thirds.

To encourage a smooth running classroom, I ask students to decide who is a 1, 2, or 3 in their groups of three students (without talking). In no time, each student has a number in the air. I'll then ask the "threes" to get certain supplies, "ones" to grab their computers, and "twos" to hand out papers (or whatever is needed for the lesson). This management strategy has proven to be effective when cleaning up and returning supplies as well!

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In this lesson, students evaluate and communicate information on the apparent movement of constellations using a variety of resources: interactive star map, planisphere, videos, modeled demo Plan your 60 minutes lesson in Science or Earth and Space Science with helpful tips from Kara Nelson

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Using water balloons and string, students will explore how gravity changes the path of moving objects.

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Students use water balloons and a length of string to understand how the force of gravity between two objects and the velocity of a spacecraft can balance to form an orbit. They see that when the velocity becomes too great for gravity to hold the spacecraft in orbit, the object escapes the orbit and travels further away from the planet.
This engineering curriculum meets Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Learning Objectives

After this activity, students should be able to:

Understand that an orbit is the balancing of object's velocity with the gravitational force.

Realize that as the velocity of an orbiting object increases, gravity has a harder time keeping the object close.

Understand that engineers must design and build huge rockets to escape the Earth's gravity.

Understand that gravity is still acting on an object that is in orbit even though it is a weightless environment.

Educational Standards
Suggest an alignment not listed above

Materials List

Each group needs:

Introduction/Motivation

Gravity is an attractive force between two objects. All things that have mass are attracted to other things that have mass. Do you think gravity is acting on an astronaut orbiting around the Earth? (Answer: Yes, Gravity is present; but, you cannot see or feel it.) You might not think gravity is acting on astronauts because when we see videos from space, everything is floating around. However, this does not mean gravity is not acting on the people in a spaceship. There is still gravity, but in an orbit, the tendency of an object to move toward the center is perfectly balanced by the spacecraft's tendency to continue in a straight line away from the planet.

What do you think would happen if a spacecraft orbiting the Earth kept speeding up? Would the spacecraft get closer or further from Earth? (Answer: Further) As the velocity of the spacecraft speeds up, it wants to keep going past and away from the Earth, which means gravity has a harder time keeping the spacecraft close and therefore the spacecraft enters an orbit that is further from the Earth. If the spacecraft continues to speed up, it will eventually be able to leave the Earth's orbit. This is exactly what happens when we send a spacecraft to another planet, such as Mars. It takes a lot of energy to get enough velocity to "escape the Earth's gravity," however, once a spacecraft has done this, it can coast to Mars and only have to fire its rockets one more time to slow down as it approaches Mars. In reality, the spacecraft has not actually escaped the Earth's gravity, but it has gotten far enough away that it is not the largest gravitational force acting on our spacecraft any more. Do you know which gravitational force becomes the largest force once a spacecraft has gotten far enough away from the Earth? (Answer: The Sun's gravity takes over once the spacecraft has left the Earth's orbit.) Figure 1 illustrates the path of a spacecraft traveling in an elliptical transfer orbit from Earth to Mars; it shows that the path from the Earth to Mars is not a straight line since the spacecraft is actually orbiting around the Sun.

Figure 1. An elliptical transfer orbit from Earth to Mars.

In today's activity, we will use water balloons to demonstrate how an orbit is the balance between gravity and the velocity of the spacecraft. We will see that once an object is traveling fast enough, the orbiting object can "escape" from the gravitational pull of the planet.

Procedure

Before the Activity

Cut one 5-foot length of twine for each group.

Thread one end of the twine through the metal spring on the clothes pin and tie a double knot in it so that the clothes pin hangs from the end of the twine.

Fill water balloons with ~100 grams of water, making the balloons about 2 inches in diameter. Fill two balloons, or more, per group (one for the activity and one for a spare). Temporarily store balloons in a plastic bucket.

Make enough copies of the Orbiting Water Balloons Worksheet, one per group.

Find a place outside where teams have at least 20 feet (6 m) clear in all directions around them. The more space provided, the safer the activity. (Note: A football/practice field or large lawn area works well.)

With the Students

1. Tell the students that today they will use water balloons to learn about orbits.

2. Explain to them that they will each represent a planet, and a water balloon - connected to a string that they will use to swing the balloon around them - represents an orbit.

Remind them that they learned that an object that is moving wants to travel in a straight line. For an object to turn, a force must act on it. The Earth's gravitational force is the acting force that turns the object, creating the elliptical (curved) path of an orbiting object. To change the path of their water balloons, they must apply force to the balloons. In this case, the tension in the string represents the gravity that keeps an object in orbit. See Figure 2 for a drawing of the experiment set-up.

Figure 2. Activity set-up.

1. Hold up one length of twine that already has the clothes pin attached. Demonstrate how to carefully clip the balloon onto the clothespin.

2. Ask the students: What will happen if you begin spinning the balloon around yourself - faster and faster? (Answer: The clothes pin will eventually let go of the balloon.) Why does this happens? (Answer: As the balloon spins faster the clothes pin cannot apply the force necessary to keep the balloon in orbit and it lets go. Once this happens, the balloon travels in a straight line, according to Newton's first law of motion.)

3. Pass out to each group a worksheet, stop watch and string with clothes pin attached.

4. Move students outside to a pre-selected space with adequate room for them to spread out and do the activity.

5. Now give groups each one water-filled balloon and tell them to securely attach the ends of the balloons to their clothes pins.

6. Have one group member stand in the middle of a designated open area while the remainder of the group stands back at least 20 feet.

7. Have the students with the strings and balloons start swinging the balloons slowly around their bodies so they are moving just fast enough to keep the balloons a few feet above the ground.

8. Have another student use the stop watch to time 10 seconds. While this person is timing, have the remaining students count how many times the balloon goes around in those 10 seconds. Record this number on the worksheets.

9. Have the students who are swinging the balloons speed up their balloons slightly.

10. Have the other students repeat counting the number of rotations in 10 seconds intervals.

11. Repeat steps 10 and 11 until the balloons come off the clothes pin.

12. Now have the students rotate roles, so that every student has a chance to be a planet with a balloon in orbit.

13. Once all teams have finished, have them come back inside and calculate the escape velocities, using the worksheets.

14. Conclude with a class discussion to compare calculations and results. Conduct the post-activity assessment activity described in the Assessment section.

Attachments

Safety Issues

Make sure students stand a sufficient distance away from the swinging water balloons and that they pay attention to the other students as they perform the experiment.

To keep from getting dizzy, have students use lasso motions over their heads to swing their balloons, instead of turning their entire bodies.

Troubleshooting Tips

Make sure the balloons are well secured by the clothes pins. This ensures that the balloons do not come off the strings too early. If students cannot handle water balloons, find another object that is soft, but also weighs around 100 grams, such as a wiffle- or sponge-type ball.

Keep one important detail in mind when comparing the string to the force of gravity on a spacecraft. In space, the distance from the planet (diameter of orbit) would get larger as a spacecraft speeds up. (Ask the class: Does the string get longer as you spin faster? Answer: No!) In this activity, the string does not get longer as a water balloon is spun faster. The orbital escape velocity of the spacecraft, the velocity at which the gravity between the objects can no longer hold them together, is achieved when the clothespin releases and the balloon flies off.

Assessment

Pre-Activity Assessment

Discussion Question: Solicit, integrate and summarize student responses.

Sketch a planet (a circle) with a "spacecraft launcher" on top of it (a stick figure with a tube). Ask students to sketch the path the spacecraft travels if it is: a) thrown from the tower like a glider; b) launched into the sky like a plane, but runs out of fuel near where planes fly ~7 miles up; c) launched with enough velocity to enter orbit around the Earth and fly near the International Space Station; or d) launched with enough velocity that it escapes an orbit around Earth and lands on Mars. [Answers: a) The spacecraft falls to the ground; b) The spacecraft makes an arc, but crashes (or lands) back on Earth; c) The spacecraft enters orbit around the Earth, and d) The spacecraft escapes an orbit around Earth, but still orbits around the Sun (remember that all things that have mass have gravity between them).]

Is there gravity in space? (Answer: Since space is a weightless environment, it seems like there is no gravity, but there actually is gravity in space! When a spaceship is in orbit, gravity and the velocity of the spaceship are exactly balanced.)

Activity Embedded Assessment

Worksheet: Have student teams use the attached Orbiting Water Balloon Worksheet for instructions, recording measurements and making calculations. Review their answers to gauge their mastery of the subject.

Post-Activity Assessment

Numbered Heads: Divide the class into teams of three to five students each. Have students on each team number off so each has a different number. Ask the students a question and give them a short time frame for solving it (~1 minute). Have team members work together on the answer and make sure everyone on the team knows it. Call a number at random. Students with that number should raise their hands to answer the question. If not all students with that number raise their hands, give the teams time to work a little longer. Example questions:

What is the force that pulls objects towards the center of the Earth? (Answer: Gravity)

Which of Newton's laws tells us that an object in motion tends to stay in motion and that the only way for an object to slow down, speed up, or turn is if a force acts on the object? (Answer: Newton's first law of motion.)

True or False: There is no gravity in space. (Answer: False)

What happens as the spacecraft speeds up? (Answer: The spacecraft eventually overpowers the gravitational pull of the Earth and leaves the Earth's orbit.)

An orbit is the balance between the velocity of the object and what force? (Answer: The planet's gravitational force.)

As velocity decreases, the object gets closer/further from Earth? (Answer: Closer)

Activity Extensions

Have students weigh different balloons and see if they can find a relationship between the mass of the balloon and the escape velocity. The students should see that a heavier balloon releases at a lower velocity. (Note: To see this result, the mass of the larger balloon must be significantly heavier - at least 50%.)

References

Wertz, James R. and Larson, Wiley J. Space Mission Analysis and Design, Third Edition, Space Technology Library, Volume 8, New York, NY: Publishing Company, 1999.

Contributors Geoffrey Hill; Daria Kotys-Schwartz; Chris Yakacki; Malinda Schaefer Zarske; Timothy M. Dittrich; Janet Yowell

Copyright © 2004 by Regents of the University of Colorado.

Supporting Program Integrated Teaching and Learning Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder

Acknowledgements

The contents of this digital library curriculum were developed under a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education, and National Science Foundation GK-12 grant no 0338326. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the Department of Education or National Science Foundation, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.

Last modified: December 27, 2017

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Students use water balloons and a length of string to understand how the force of gravity between two objects and the velocity of a spacecraft can balance to form an orbit. They see that when the velocity becomes too great for gravity to hold the spacecraft in orbit, the object escapes the orbit and travels further away from the planet.

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How Do Space Craft Survive in the Extreme Temperatures of Space?

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How Do Space Craft Survive in the Extreme Temperatures of Space?

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In this engineering project, students build, "satellites," and observe how they survive under high heat experiments.

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To understand the challenges of satellite construction, student teams design and create model spacecraft to protect vital components from the harsh conditions found on Mercury and Venus. They use slices of butter in plastic eggs to represent the internal data collection components of the spacecraft. To discover the strengths and weaknesses of their designs, they test their unique thermal protection systems in a planet simulation test box that provides higher temperature and pressure conditions.
This engineering curriculum meets Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Pre-Req Knowledge

A basic introduction to Mercury and Venus and their characteristics is helpful, such as provided in the associated Solar System unit lesson 3, Mercury and Venus. It may also be helpful to provide a brief review of heat transfer concepts, including conduction, convection and radiation.

Learning Objectives

After this activity, students should be able to:

Discuss why it is important to study other planets and discover more about our solar system.

Describe the engineering challenges associated with sending a spacecraft to either Mercury or Venus.

Explain how engineers protect spacecraft from the harsh conditions found on Mercury and Venus.

Educational Standards
Suggest an alignment not listed above

Materials List

For the test box:

1 thin piece of transparent Plexiglas for testing window (available at hardware stores)

1 medium-sized cardboard box, such as a copier paper box

hairdryer

duct or packaging tape

paper towels or plastic liner, to catch drips in the bottom of the box

Each group needs:

1 thin square pat of butter

plastic egg, or another small closed plastic container to represent a space capsule or probe

For the entire class to share:

scissors

masking tape

glue

construction paper

aluminum foil

toothpicks

assortment of balsa wood, fabric and cardboard pieces

assortment of Styrofoam cups

thermometer to measure inside test box temperature

oven mitt, to remove warmed space capsule form the test box

watch or clock for timing

Introduction/Motivation

For the past 60 years, humankind has explored and studied the solar system beyond its own planet Earth. Recently these investigations have been performed by satellites designed to go to other planets and send back information about the conditions found on other worlds. Many of these missions require the satellite to collect data on a planet's temperature, atmosphere and soil composition. By carrying out these explorations, we satisfy our desire to answer questions about the unknown, and we begin to better understand our universe and how it works. In addition, we can learn more about our own planet, Earth, by comparing the conditions found on other planets.

While many planets have been studied in detail since the launch of the first satellite in 1957, Mercury and Venus are two planets that are especially difficult to study and, as a result, are more unknown to us. In fact, only one satellite has ever flown to Mercury - Mariner 10 in 1974 - and only half of Mercury's surface has been mapped. Also, although eight Soviet Venera spacecraft have landed on Venus, none have survived longer than about two hours in the harsh Venusian conditions!

So why are these two planets so difficult to study? It is mostly because of their locations. Remember that Mercury and Venus are the two planets closest to the Sun, so their surfaces are extremely hot! Mercury has an average temperature of 800 oF (430 oC) during the day while Venus has an average of 900 oF (480 o C). Did you notice, even though Venus is twice as far from the Sun as Mercury, its average temperature is much hotter than Mercury's average? This is because Venus is surrounded by a thick atmosphere composed of carbon dioxide that creates a greenhouse effect. This means that it traps the heat and does not let it dissipate back into space.

In addition to the extremely hot temperatures, sending satellites to these planets requires a large amount of energy to slow them down as they approach the planets. As satellites get closer and closer to the Sun, they begin to speed up, just as an object speeds when dropped from a tall height on Earth. If the satellites did not have rocket engines to slow them down, they would zoom right past the planet and continue orbiting the Sun.

So how do engineers design a spacecraft to overcome these problems? This is the question you will answer today by creating a spacecraft design for a planet such as Venus and Mercury. On Venus, the temperatures are high enough to melt lead and the atmospheric pressure is 90 times that on Earth! Of the eight spacecraft that landed on Venus, four of them managed to take photographs (six, altogether) of the terrain surrounding their landing site because windows made of diamonds protected the camera lenses. Certainly, if we want to send a space probe to another planet, we would like it to last longer than two hours. So, engineers are continually testing ideas to make spacecraft able to survive harsh conditions that exist on planets such as Mercury and Venus.

Vocabulary/Definitions

engineer: A person who applies her/his understanding of science and mathematics to creating things for the benefit of humanity and our world.

greenhouse effect: A process that traps heat inside the atmosphere due to solar radiation travelling through the atmosphere and heat radiation unable to pass out of the atmosphere due to atmospheric carbon dioxide and other gases.

spacecraft: A vehicle designed for travel or operation in space beyond the Earth's atmosphere or in orbit around the Earth.

thermal protection system: The part of a spacecraft that protects it from very hot external temperatures.

Procedure

Before the Activity

Gather materials.

Construct a planet simulation test box. Choose a box size that can easily fit three or four student spacecraft, each containing a probe or space capsule, at a time. Replace one side with a thin piece of transparent Plexiglas (use duct or packaging tape to secure it). Make the following cuts into the box: a round hold to accommodate a hairdryer nozzle (to heat the inside air and increase the inside air pressure), a small round hold to permit insertion of a thermometer (to take the inside air temperature), a small hole or vent opening to keep too much pressure from building up, and a flap big enough to permit temporary access to easily move the spacecraft in and out (see Figure 1). As an alternative, use a toaster oven set at a very low temperature.

Figure 1. Example planet simulation test box.

With the Students - Step 1: Design

1. Present the student challenge: Today your engineering team is challenged to design a spacecraft that can resist the harsh conditions found on planets such as Mercury and Venus. The longer your spacecraft survives the harsh conditions of the planet, the more time we have to collect information and data about the planet. Use your knowledge about the conditions found on Mercury and Venus to design a thermal protection system for a probe that will be sent there. This spacecraft must be carefully designed to protect the sensitive devices - such as a camera, antenna and sensors - that collect planet data. All the teams will test their designs to determine which design works best and why.

2. As a class, brainstorm ideas about how to best protect the precious spacecraft components from the hazardous planet conditions; namely the high temperatures and high pressures of Venus. (See the ideas provided in the activity embedded assessment portion of the Assessment section.)

3. Present the construction materials from which students may choose. Explain that after they have finished their design and are ready to build, each team will be given a slice of butter and a plastic egg. The butter represents the vital components of the spacecraft and the test box represents the harsh conditions found on Mercury or Venus. Their goal is to use the materials to design and create a thermal protection system to protect the butter from the very hot and high pressure conditions in the planet simulation test box.

4. Divide the class into teams of two or three students each. Direct the groups to choose an idea from the class brainstorming activity to use in the design of their spacecraft.

5. Ask each team to draw a sketch of how their spacecraft will look using the given materials.

With the Students - Step 2: Build

1. Give each group a pat of butter and a plastic egg. Instruct them to place the butter inside the egg (representing a probe or space capsule) and build their spacecraft and thermal protection system to protect the butter when it's in the test box. Remember, the butter represents the vital components of the spacecraft and the test box represents the harsh conditions found on Mercury or Venus.

2. Give students some time to create their spacecraft with the given materials.

With the Students - Step 3: Test

1. Lay a plastic liner or paper towel in the bottom of the test box to collect any leaking melted butter.

2. Place several teams' spacecraft into the test box and use the hairdryer to raise the temperature and, if possible, the pressure inside the test box.

3. Have students use the thermometer to read the increasing temperature inside the test box.

4. Check the spacecraft after 2 minutes, 4 minutes, etc. Repeat the planetary simulation test with the next set of spacecraft. The spacecraft whose butter lasts the longest without melting is the best because it kept the precious cargo (butter) safest longest.

5. Observation notes: Before the end of the activity, students should realize that the butter is best protected if it does not touch the walls of its spacecraft. While waiting, explain to students that this is because the hot atmosphere begins to heat up the spacecraft walls first, then, if the butter touches the walls it begins to melt the butter by conduction. Instead, if the butter is suspended inside the capsule by string or toothpicks, the heat must conduct through the air to raise the temperature of the butter. This takes longer since air is a poor conductor and hence, the butter does not melt as fast.

6. To conclude, lead a class discussion, comparing teams' spacecraft results and discuss what materials and designs worked best to protect the butter from melting. See post-activity questions and activities in the Assessment section.

Safety Issues

Use an oven mitt or make sure the space capsules have cooled before removing them from the test box.

Troubleshooting Tips

As an alternative to the test box, use a toaster oven set at a low temperature, being careful to not melt the plastic eggs.

Assessment

Pre-Activity Assessment

Prediction: Ask the students:

Which planet do you think is the hottest in the solar system? (Answer: Venus. Even though Mercury is closer to the Sun, Venus' dense atmosphere traps heat and raises the surface temperature to nearly 1300۫oF [700 oC].)

Activity Embedded Assessment

Brainstorming: As part of the activity, lead a class brainstorm session to come up with creative ideas for how engineers might build a spacecraft so that it protects its vital internal components. How can we incorporate what we know about heat transfer (conduction, convection, radiation) to protect the interior from heat? (Possible answers: Build large radiators that absorb most of the heat instead of the interior components. Insulate the spacecraft with Styrofoam so that heat cannot penetrate inside. Put the spacecraft in a really cold part of the room just before placing it in the test box. Protect the internal components by not having them touch the space capsule walls.)

Prediction: As a class, examine each batch of spacecraft before they go into the test box. Ask the students:

Which of these models do you predict will best protect the probe's internal data collection components (butter) from the heat and pressure on the planet (inside the box)? (Answers will vary.)

Post-Activity Assessment

Discussion Question: Solicit, integrate, and summarize student responses.

How long did it take for your spacecraft to malfunction (that is, for the butter to melt)?

Which spacecraft protected its internal components the best and why?

How might you re-engineer your design so it lasts (protects the butter from melting) longer?

Re-Engineering: Ask students how they could improve their spacecraft design to work better, and have them sketch or test their ideas.

Activity Extensions

Ask students to research the longest time a spacecraft has survived on the surface of Venus. (Answer: Venera 13 survived for approximately 127 minutes before its signal was lost.)

Engineers design instruments and devices to gather information about places that are too difficult or dangerous for people to go. What if you could not go in your basement, house, backyard, school or classroom for some reason? How do we collect data from deep in an ocean, volcano or space? How would you design something to go in without you and gather information so that you could tell the conditions inside? (Ideas: Robots with cameras and sensors, tiny camera on stick to slide in doors or windows, mirror to reflect images, telescopes, probes for oceans, volcanoes and space.) Assign students to write a paragraph describing an existing tool or device, and another paragraph to describe another tool or device that does not exist, but that an engineer could create.

References

Dictionary.com. Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. Accessed November 19, 2007. (Source of some vocabulary definitions, with some adaptation) http://www.dictionary.com

Windows to the Universe. Last modified September 2000. University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and the University of Michigan. Accessed November 13, 2007. http://www.windows.ucar.edu

Contributors Jake Lewis; Malinda Schaefer Zarske; Denise W. Carlson

Copyright © 2006 by Regents of the University of Colorado.

Supporting Program Integrated Teaching and Learning Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder

Acknowledgements

The contents of this digital library curriculum were developed under a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education, and National Science Foundation GK-12 grant no 0338326. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the Department of Education or National Science Foundation, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.

Last modified: April 17, 2018

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Spacecraft Design: Beat the Heat - Activity

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To understand the challenges of satellite construction, student teams design and create model spacecraft to protect vital components from the harsh conditions found on Mercury and Venus. They use slices of butter in plastic eggs to represent the internal data collection components of the spacecraft.

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In this project, students will discover how the Moon and other satellites orbit around the Earth.

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Orbital Speed: How Do Satellites Orbit? | Science Project | Education.com

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How is NASA able to launch something into orbit around the Earth? Learn about the relationship between gravity, speed, and orbit in space in this cool project!

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Perform a number of activities that give you a sense of what it is like to prepare for going to space!

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Join NASA in a variety of exciting physical and hands-on activities to encourage students to "Train Like an Astronaut."

Developed in cooperation with NASA scientists and fitness professionals working directly with astronauts, the Train Like an Astronaut activities are a physical and inquiry-based approach to human health and fitness on Earth and in space. Students can participate in physical activities modeled after the real-life physical requirements of humans traveling in space.

Using the Train Like an Astronaut activities, you can involve your students in structured, hands-on science activities that relate physical Earth-based needs to the requirements of exploring space. You can also assist students in gaining additional understanding of the science behind nutrition and physical fitness.

NASA's Train Like an Astronaut project uses the excitement of exploration to challenge students to set physical fitness and research goals, practice physical fitness activities, and research proper nutrition, to enable each child to become our next generation of fit explorers!

Important! Students should have proper medical clearance on record before participating in any kind of physical activity program.

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NASA's Train Like an Astronaut project uses the excitement of exploration to challenge students to set physical fitness and research goals, practice physical fitness activities, and research proper nutrition, to enable each child to become our next generation of fit explorers!

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With a partner, students will create a Solar cooker, learn about how the Sun's rays travel to Earth and how they can be used.

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iEARN-USA - Learning with the world since 1988 This plan was designed to enhance iEARN's Solar Cooking Project, where students collaborate globally to improve health and reduce problems caused by fuel shortages. Download a...

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Learn How the Lunar Rovers travel on Mars

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Learn How the Lunar Rovers travel on Mars

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Using math skills, students will measure how far the Mars rovers have traveled

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Prerequisites: Prior to this activity, students should have experience applying formulas. Students should be familiar with using calculators and evaluating formulas, as well as have a basic knowledge of scale factor and application of the Pythagorean Theorem.