Travel on the International Space Station

Travel on the International
Space Station

A Web Quest for Sixth Grade

Introduction Task Resources Checklist Process Evaluation Conclusion Credits

Introduction

Welcome aboard the International Space Station! In order to remedy the generation gap in the space program, NASA has decided to send apprentice astronauts to the ISS. Your group fit the profile, and you are now in place as a space-station trainee and mission representative for American sixth graders. After completing a special training and fitness regimen, you arrived at the ISS aboard a newly-invented space shuttle that uses a secret speed and safety formula to make space flight possible for everyone. WOW! What a view from up here! But now it's time to begin you assignment of learning about space from the ISS crew and your own research, and using your knowledge and experience to enlighten other sixth graders about space travel and the mission of the ISS.

The Task

Your mission is to interest and educate other sixth graders about space travel and the mission of the ISS. In order to accomplish your mission successfully, you must complete several tasks:

The first task is to learn about life in space. Follow the Life in Space checklist, and check off activities you have completed aboard the space station. Then write letters to sixth graders on Earth about living in space. Your letter should include the following:

weightlessness
food and clothing
sleep and exercise
personal hygiene
what can be seen from space
how you feel about your experience

Your second task is to learn about the ISS and its mission and educate others. You will accomplish this task as apprentices to astronauts at the station and the experts at mission control. You will prepare a Power Point presentation about the space station for another sixth grade class which includes:

mission details - the who, what, when and where of the project
the construction of the space station
information about space walks, shuttles and docking
science experiments and the benefits that can be expected from the mission
how sixth graders can get involved

Your third task is to devise a survey to allow your peers to give feedback on the ISS program after viewing your presentation. Then you must advise NASA, as their youth representative, how to involve sixth graders in the space program. Using your own experiences, and the responses of your classmates, you will e-mail mission control education specialists about at least three activities that made (or would make) the ISS more interesting to you and other sixth graders.

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Resources

Life in Space Checklist Web Sites (click here for checktlist)

__1. Become familiar with the Space Station by completing a virtual tour.
http://www.discovery.com/stories/science/iss/enterstation.html

__2. Fill out your application and become a virtual astronaut.
http://virtualastronaut.tietronix.com

__3. Complete a spacewalk mission.
http://www.discovery.com/stories/science/iss/interactives.html

__4. Look at views of Earth from space.
http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery (Keywords: view of earth from space)

__5. Read Belgian astronaut Frank de Winne's 6-day diary about his ISS mission.
http://www.esa.int/de_winne/index.html

__6. Read e-mail from astronauts in space.
http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/feedback/expert/answer/isscrew/expedition5/index.html

__7. Find out about living arrangements in space.
http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/living/index.html

__8. (For shift 1 only) Find out more about food, clothing and personal hygiene.
http://www.pbs.org/spacestation/station/living.htm

__9. (For shift 2 only) Find out more about sleep, recreation, exercise and weightlessness.
http://www.pbs.org/spacestation/station/living.htm

Astronaut Apprentice Websites:

Apprentice Mission Expert:

1. http://school.discovery.com/schooladventures/spacestation/basics/what.html

2. http://discovery.com/stories/science/iss/i_whodoeswhat.html

3. http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/isstodate.html

4. http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/reference/partners/index.html

5. http://www.pbs.org/spacestation/station.htm

Apprentice Engineer:

1. http://school.discovery.com/schooladventures/spacestation/together.html

2. http://www.discovery.com/stories/science/iss/timeline/timeline2000_a.html

3. http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/assembly/index.html

Apprentice Scientist:

1. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/index.html

2. http://school.discovery.com/schooladventures/spacestation/basics/why.html

3. http://spaceresearch.nasa.gov/research_projects/ros/earthkamop.html

Apprentice Shuttle Pilot:

1. http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/eva/index.html

2. http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/eng/missions/sts-097/kid_day2.asp

3. http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle

E-Mail Your Suggestions Links:

1. Shelley Canright, Educational Technology Program Officer
[email protected]

2. Malcolm Phelps, Assistant Director for Programs, Education Division
[email protected]

3. Flint Wild, Technology Specialist, Teaching from Space Program
[email protected]

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The Process

Step One: Your first step is to meet with your group and complete the Life in Space checklist. Since there is limited room aboard the Space Station, your group will be entering and leaving in shifts. So pair up with a partner, choose shift one or shift two, print out your checklist, and board the spacecraft.

Step Two: Your next step is to write a letter with your partner to sixth graders on Earth describing your experiences in space. Make it believable by including as many interesting details as possible. Shift one is responsible for highlighting food, clothing and personal hygiene along with other experiences from the checklist. Shift two concentrates on describing sleep, recreation, exercise and weightlessness along with their other space experiences. Don't forget who you're writing to and that it is a friendly letter, not an essay! Use a word processor and express yourself clearly since NASA will want to publish the most interesting and informative letters! Don't forget to print a copy of your letter to keep.

Step Three: Now your are ready to assume your astronaut apprentice roles. Each member of your group should choose a role. After choosing the role, refer to the Resources to begin your apprenticeship and research.

Pilot Mission Specialist

The Apprentice Mission Expert
Your job is to research the Space Station's general characteristics including:

The nations that sponsor the ISS
Size, weight, orbit, speed, cost
Benefits of the project
A mission summary including timespan, number of Expedition crews, number of shuttle flights, number of spacewalks, when begun, completion date
Description of the current crew
Plans for use of the space station in the future
How youth can become involved
The Apprentice Engineer
Your job is to research how the spacestation is assembled in space. Include also:

What each nation will contribute to the station
A timeline illustrating the assembly sequence
EVA (extra vehicular activities) ie space walks, who is involved, the type of activity performed
what the modules are used for

The Apprentice Scientist
Your job is to research experiments that are being done on the ISS and how these will benefit us here on Earth as well as in later space ventures. You need to:

Choose three experiments that will interest youraudience and relate the subject and procedures of the experiment as well as how the results will be useful to mankind.
Research and report on the Earth KAM project involving middle-school students which was developed by astronaut Sally Ride.
Determine what conditions in space make it a unique opportunity to do research.
Find out which features of the ISS make it valuable to future space travel .
The Apprentice Shuttle Pilot
Your job is to research the shuttles that allow astronutats to reach space. Include also:

The different shuttles including Endeavour and Soyuz
The part played by Misson Control on Earth
The take-off and landing sites
The names/numbers given to the flights
Docking maneuvers at the ISS
Astronaut training

Step 4: Next, after you have become expert apprentices, your assignment is to share your knowledge of the ISS with other students your age. You will do this by means of a Power Point demonstration.
Remember to make it interesting and eyecatching as well as organized and informative. Include all facets of your role that are listed in the table. Be sure to begin with an attention-getting visual and title and end with ideas to get students involved and motivate them to seek further information.

Step 5: Before presenting the demonstration, you will design a sheet using a word processor to allow your audience to rate your presentation, list what interested them most, and choose at least one of five ways that you suggest to get involved with the space program. You will present the demonstration to another sixth-grade class and have them fill out and return your survey. If your peers are impressed, NASA may make your presentation a model for their youth education programs!

Step 6: Your last assignment is to e-mail a NASA representative about your findings using the links in the Resources section. Include at least three ideas that made the ISS a subject that sixth graders want to persue. Be sure to print out a copy of the e-mail. Also include any replies you recieve!

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Evaluation

Your performance will be evaluated as a group according to the quality and completeness of your products, whether you have chosen appropriate and interesting material for your audience, and how well you have cooperated as a group. The following rubric will be used:

	4	3	2	1	Score
Space Life Checklist	Checklist is complete.	One activity was skipped.	Two or more activities were skipped.	Three or more activities were skipped.
Letter to Sixth Graders	The letter is clear and well-written, sounds very interesting and realistic, contains the required information, and is appropriate for the intended audience.	The letter is mostly clear and well-written, sounds interesting and realistic, contains all or most of the required information, and is largely appropriate for the intended audience.	The letter is somewhat clear and well-written, is of average interest and somewhat realistic, contains some of the required information, and is only partly directed at the intended audience.	The letter is confusing and not in proper form, is not of interest or believable, contains little of the required information and is not directed at the audience.
Power Point Presentation	The Power Point presentation is eyecatching, very interesting and motivating to the audience, contains all the required facets, is well-organized, and points the way with engaging ideas for further learning about the ISS.	The Power Point presentation is interesting and motivating to the audience, contains most of the facets required, is organized, and gives some good ideas about getting further information about the ISS.	The Power Point Presentation is of average interest and is somewhat motivating for the audience, contains many of the facets required, is organized in places, and gives some ideas for further involvement of the audience.	The Power Point Presentation is of little interest to the audience, contains few of the facets required, is unorganized, and fails to give ideas for further involvement.
Student Survey and e-mail	The Student Survey is very easily understood and convenient to fill out and measures all of the items required in Step #5 well. The e-mail contains excellent ideas that are very appropriate for the audience and show good imput from the survey.	The Student Survey is easily understood and convenient to fill out and measures all or most of the items required in Step #5 well. The e-mail contains good ideas that are appropriate for the audience and show some imput from the survey.	The Student Survey can be understood and has reasonable ease of use. It contains many of the items required in Step #5. The e-mail contains some ideas that are appropriate for the audience and shows limited imput from the survey.	The Student Survey can't easily be understood or used and contains few of the items required in Step #5. The e-mail contains few ideas of interest to the audience and does not make use of the student survey.
Group Participation	The Group works very well together, involves all of its members equally in the assignments, and is always considerate towards the needs of other learners in the classroom.	The Group works well together, involves all of its members in the assignments, and is considerate towards the needs of other learners in the classroom.	The Group works well together sometimes, invloves most of its members most of the time, and is somewhat considerate of the other learners in the classroom.	The Group does not work well together, doesn't involve all of its members in the assignments, and is not considerate of the other learners in the classroom.

Conclusion

You have been a very valuable member of the NASA team! As the astronaunts and space travelers of the future,YOU will determine the direction the space program will take. Will we travel in space? Will we cooperate with other nations to push the boundaries of science and knowledge to the universe that lies beyond us? Will we take the next step toward living in space? Only you and the other youth of our world can answer these questions.

Credits

Thanks to NASA for the pictures and activities especially from the www.spaceflight.nasa.gov website.
(http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov)
Thanks to Discovery.com and especially the school.discovery.com website for its information and activities that are geared towards students. (http://www.school.discovery.com)

Thanks to Bernie Dodge(at bottom) for the template.

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Based on a template written by Bernie Dodge.

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