Adventures in Aerospace: Lesson 3
Volunteer’s Guide
Key to Curriculum Formatting:
► Volunteer Directions
■ Volunteer Notes
♦ Volunteer-led Classroom Experiments
Lesson 3: YOU’RE GOING TO THE MOON!
► Begin the presentation by telling the class that this is “Lesson 3: You’re
Going to the Moon!” If this is your second or third visit, reintroduce
yourself and the program. Briefly review key concepts from the first and
second lessons, “You’re Piloting a Plane!” and “You’re Launching a
Rocket.” If this is your first visit, here is a suggested personal
introduction:
“Hello, my name is
, and I am a
(position
title) at Aerojet. I or another Aerojet volunteer will be visiting your
class once a month over the next few months to speak to you about
space exploration and space travel. We will learn about the basics of
aerodynamics, rocket propulsion, and spaceflight to the space
station, the moon, and future missions to Mars!”
► Answer any questions left over from the previous visit.
MATERIALS NEEDED
•
AiA Multimedia Presentation (AMP)
•
DVD-ROM
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TV or projection screen
•
Balloons (red, white and blue or any 3 different colors)
•
Handouts
•
Index cards
► See lesson to assess total equipment needs.
LESSON OUTLINE
Introduction
Lesson Concepts
Vocabulary
Early Moon Adventures
What is it Like on the Moon?
Let’s Look Ahead
Applying What We’ve Learned
Experiments
INTRODUCTION
Early science fiction writers envisioned the exploration of space decades before the first rocket
was even launched! These writers included Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
This presentation provides an overview of early space exploration programs that helped paved
the way to moon exploration. Student will make critical connections between the history of space
exploration and our motives for further space exploration, as well as compare and contrast the
environments on earth and the moon through experiments and multimedia.
LESSON CONCEPTS
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•
Why explore?
•
Technology spin-offs
•
Extreme distances between planets
•
Effects of spaceflight on humans
VOCABULARY
Craters: Bowl-shaped depressions on the surfaces of planets and their satellites, including the
moon, caused by objects from space colliding with the surface of the object
Gravity: Objects with mass attract each other. This force is called gravitation, or more
commonly, gravity.
Highlands: The light areas seen on the moon which are rough and mountainous
Maria (singular: mare): The dark patches seen on the moon which are lowlands covered by a
thin layer of rocky soil
Orbit: The path taken by an object moving around another object
Phases of the moon: The various shapes the moon seems to have each night as it moves
through its approximately monthly cycle (29.5 days)
Revolution: One object tracing a path or orbit around another object
Rotation: The spinning of an object about its axis
Satellite: An object that orbits around another object
Tide: The rise and fall of water along the ocean shore
Waning: The time when the moon appears to be growing smaller each passing night. The lighted
side is on the left.
Waxing: The time when the moon appears to be growing larger with each passing night. The
lighted side is on the right.
EARLY MOON ADVENTURES
► Divide the class into 3 groups. Guide students through the Spaceflight
History Video presentation. Ask each group to identify a spokesperson to
answer for the group. Ask the question video; give the groups 30 seconds
or so to come up with an answer. Keep track of which group gets the most
correct answers.
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Question 3.1: What is Sputnik?
Answer 3.1: Sputnik, a Russian satellite launched in October 1957, was the first man-made object
to orbit the earth. The launching of Sputnik started the "Space Race," a time of rapid aerospace
technology development by the U.S. and Russia.
Question 3.2: Who or What is Laika?
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Answer 3.2: Laika, a small dog, was the first living creature to travel into space in 1957.
Question 3.3: What is Explorer I?
Answer 3.3: America launched its first satellite, "Explorer I," in January of 1958.
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Question 3.4: Who is Yuri Gagarin?
Answer 3.4: Gagarin was the first man in space. He was launched by the Russians in April,
1961.
Question 3.5: Who is Alan Shepard?
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Answer 3.5: Just one month after Gagarin, Shepard was launched into space by the United
States. Shepard was an astronaut on the Mercury program, the first major U.S. manned flight
program.
Question 3.6: Who is John Glenn?
Answer 3.6: Soon after Shepard, Project Mercury astronaut, John Glenn, who later served as a
US Senator, became the first American to orbit the earth.
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Question 3.7: Which US president set the goal to travel to the moon and back by 1969?
Answer 3.7: Under the leadership of President Kennedy, the U.S. set out on an ambitious
program to land a man on the moon by 1970.
Question 3.8: What is Project Gemini?
Answer 3.8: The Gemini program is a series of two-man space flights to learn more about the
effects of space flight on man, to practice space docking, and to learn how to walk and work in
space. Aerojet-built Titan II liquid rocket engines powered the project Gemini booster rocket.
Question 3.9: What is the Apollo Program?
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Answer 3.9: The Apollo program involved the design and building of the huge Saturn V rocket,
which could send a three-man spacecraft to the moon, along with a smaller spaceship to return
the three astronauts to Earth. The Apollo program also benefited from unmanned spacecraft
which orbited the moon and provided detailed photographs used to select landing sites.
Question 3.10: Who is Neil Armstrong?
Answer 3.10: On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped on the on the moon. The spacecraft that
actually landed, the “Eagle,” stood about 20 feet high. "The Eagle has landed," and "That's one
small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" are two of the most famous statements in space
exploration history.
3.11: What is the Lunar Rover?
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Answer 3.11: Later Apollo trips included the use of the Lunar Rover, a four wheeled "moon car"
used to explore the moon. The Apollo astronauts conducted many scientific experiments on the
moon and left behind scientific data gathering instruments from which we learned much about the
moon and its interaction with earth.
WHAT IS IT LIKE ON THE MOON?
As a result of our exploration, we now know a great deal about the environment of the moon.
♦ Moon Story
Experiment Concepts
•
Gravitational Pull
•
Mass
•
Weight
Experiment Materials
•
AMP-based
Experiment Instructions
1. After talking with the students about the moon’s environment, i.e. no atmosphere and 1/6 of
Earth's gravity, ask the students to write a description of recreation activities on the moon.
2. With only 1/6 the gravitational pull of earth, what could a child do better, faster, higher,
longer?
3. With no atmosphere as we know it, what would happen if some of our earth games were
played on the moon?
Experiment Explanation
Because the moon's gravity is only one sixth of Earth's gravity, a person would be able to do daily
activities (like playing) quite differently. Alan Sheppard hit a golf ball on the moon…it went a very
long distance!
► Perform the Solar System Demonstration Using Balloons. The team
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which had the most correct answers to the earlier contest gets to choose
whether they want to be the Earth, Moon, or Mars.
► Discuss the implication for human space travel of the great distance
between Earth and Mars.
APPLYING WHAT WE’VE LEARNED
QUIZ THE TEACHER (Q & A)
► Hand out index cards to the class and ask them to write down one or
two questions for you. Ask for a volunteer to collect the cards. Read some
the questions aloud and answer them for the entire class.
LET’S LOOK AHEAD
► If you and your teacher have set a meeting for the next presentation, let
students know what they will be exploring next session:
“In the next session, ‘You’re In Control of a Robot on Mars!,’ your
class will learn about robots, how they work, and what their current
and future uses are and will be, in our society.”
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► Thank class.
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