Look Closer
FirstNews
Issue 437
31st Oct - 06th Nov 2014
HEADLINES
© Paragon Space Development Corporation
A COMPUTER scientist has plunged from the
edge of space to break the record for the
highest ever parachute jump.
Mr Eustace
used a small
explosive
device to
release himself
from the
balloon and
reached speeds of 800mph (1,287km/h)
before his parachute opened – that’s faster
than the speed of sound! His speed created
a ‘sonic boom’ which was heard by people
watching from the ground.
The previous record was set by Austrian
daredevil Felix Baumgartner two years ago.
Mr Eustace’s jump, which took three years to
plan, was kept a secret until the day of the
jump (24 October). After landing safely, Mr
Eustace said: “You could see the darkness of
space and the layers of atmosphere… it was
a wild, wild ride.”
Extra Information
Sonic boom: A loud explosive sound
caused when an object travels faster
than the speed of sound.
Helium: Helium is a gas which is
lighter than air and so it is used in
balloons and airships to create lift.
Alan Eustace ‘only’ reached 41km,
but considering that the atmosphere
extends to about 10,000km, it’s close
enough to consider this ‘the edge of
space’.
Felix Baumgarten: In October 2012,
Felix Baumgarten fell from 39km above
Edge of space: There is no
the Earth. He entered the record books
definite boundary between Earth’s
for the highest-ever skydive and the
atmosphere (the layer of gases which
highest-ever manned balloon ascent.
surround the planet) and outer space.
He also became the first skydiver to
The Karman line (100km up) is often
break the sound barrier. Millions of
used as the height which space begins.
people watched his fall live online.
Learning through news
Alan Eustace
was lifted to
41km above the
Earth for his
record-breaking
jump
© Paragon Space Development Corporation
© Paragon Space Development Corporation
Alan Eustace, who works for Google,
jumped from 135,000ft (41km) above the
surface of the Earth in a specially-designed
space suit. He was lifted to that height from an
abandoned runway in New Mexico, USA, by
a huge helium-filled balloon. The journey up
took just over two hours, while the fall back to
Earth took just 15 minutes.
Wilipedia
RECORD-BREAKING
SPACE JUMP!
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Look Closer
HEADLINES: RECORD-BREAKING SPACE JUMP!
31st October - 6th November 2014
Carefully read the Headlines news story then answer the following questions:
Q1) Why has Alan Eustace just entered the record books? (AF2)
Q2) What does this man normally do during the day? (AF3)
Q3) Alan Eustace broke a record set in 2012. By how many kilometres did he break the record? (AF2)
Q4) To complete this incredible feat, Alan Eustace needed a lot of special kit and equipment.
List all the items you can find mentioned in the article. (AF2)
Q5) Why was it important that the explosive worked? (AF3)
Q6) Find the numbers to complete the sentences: (AF2)
l It took him _________ hours to get up, but just ____ minutes to get back down again.
l He jumped from a height of _______ km, or ________________ feet.
l During his fall he reached a speed of _____________ miles per hour.
l His jump took ______ years to organise.
Q7) What do you think the experience of his ascent (the journey up) would have been like? (AF3)
Q8)
What do you think his journey was like on the way down (his descent)? (AF3)
Q9) Look at the diagram showing the five layers of the Earth’s atmosphere. The lowest layer, the
troposphere, is where our weather occurs and planes fly. (AF2)
l What layer did Alan Eustace enter?
l In which layer is the International Space Station?
Q10) What could Alan Eustace see during his experience? (AF2)
Q11) Look at the extra information. Why is it reasonable to say that Alan Eustace reached
‘the edge of space’? (AF3)
Q12) Why do you think the journalist chose to end the article with this particular quotation? (AF6)
Learning through news
www.FirstNews.co.uk/forschools
Look Closer
HEADLINES: RECORD-BREAKING SPACE JUMP!
31st October - 6th November 2014
Carefully read the Headlines news story then answer the following questions:
Q1) Why has Alan Eustace just entered the record books? (AF2)
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Q2) What does this man normally do during the day? (AF3)
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Q3) Alan Eustace broke a record set in 2012. By how many kilometres did he break the record? (AF2)
.......................................................................
Q4) To complete this incredible feat, Alan Eustace needed a lot of special kit and equipment. List all the
items you can find mentioned in the article. (AF2)
l ............................................................................................................................................................
l ............................................................................................................................................................
l ............................................................................................................................................................
l ............................................................................................................................................................
Q5) Why was it important that the explosive worked? (AF3)
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Q6) Find the numbers to complete the sentences: (AF2)
l It took him _________ hours to get up, but just ____ minutes to get back down again.
l He jumped from a height of _______ km, or ________________ feet.
l During his fall he reached a speed of _____________ miles per hour.
l His jump took ______ years to organise.
Q7) What do you think the experience of his ascent (the journey up) would have been like? (AF3)
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Learning through news
www.FirstNews.co.uk/forschools
Look Closer
HEADLINES: RECORD-BREAKING SPACE JUMP!
31st October - 6th November 2014
Q8) What do you think his journey was like on the way down (his descent)? (AF3)
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Q9) Look at the diagram showing the five layers of the Earth’s atmosphere. The lowest layer, the
troposphere, is where our weather occurs and planes fly. (AF2)
l What layer did Alan Eustace enter? ........................................................................................................
l In which layer is the International Space Station? ...............................................................................
Q10) What could Alan Eustace see during his experience? (AF2)
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Q11) Look at the extra information. Why is it reasonable to say that Alan Eustace reached ‘the edge of
space’? (AF3)
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Q12) Why do you think the journalist chose to end the article with this particular quotation? (AF6)
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................
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Learning through news
www.FirstNews.co.uk/forschools
Look Closer
HEADLINES: RECORD-BREAKING SPACE JUMP!
31st October - 6th November 2014
Extension Activities
A) NEWS IN NUMBERS
This article and the extra information contain lots of numbers. Can you rewrite three facts for the ‘Week in Numbers’ section of the newspaper?
The rules are:
l You have to start with a number.
l You have to write in full sentences.
l You must use no more than two sentences.
£97million is being spent
on a supercomputer to help improve
weather forecasting by the Met Office. It
will be built next year in Exeter.
Here is an example from this week’s paper:
B) THE JUMP OF A LIFETIME!
Alan Eustace actually tried this jump on behalf of a company that is trying to design spacesuits and
equipment. They would like to make an activity like this commercially available. This means that members of
the public could pay to have the experience of jumping down to Earth, from space.
l Pretend that this service is now up and running; all the equipment and safety issues have been sorted.
l Can you write an advert for the company? The aim of the advert is to give people information on the
experience and persuade them that a space jump is a fantastic thing to do.
l Use information from the article to help write your advert. Make up any other facts and figures that you might need.
Extension Activities
A) NEWS IN NUMBERS
This article and the extra information contain lots of numbers. Can you rewrite three facts for the ‘Week in Numbers’ section of the newspaper?
The rules are:
l You have to start with a number.
l You have to write in full sentences.
l You must use no more than two sentences.
£97million is being spent
on a supercomputer to help improve
weather forecasting by the Met Office. It
will be built next year in Exeter.
Here is an example from this week’s paper:
B) THE JUMP OF A LIFETIME!
Alan Eustace actually tried this jump on behalf of a company that is trying to design spacesuits and
equipment. They would like to make an activity like this commercially available. This means that members of
the public could pay to have the experience of jumping down to Earth, from space.
l Pretend that this service is now up and running; all the equipment and safety issues have been sorted.
l Can you write an advert for the company? The aim of the advert is to give people information on the
experience and persuade them that a space jump is a fantastic thing to do.
l Use information from the article to help write your advert. Make up any other facts and figures that you might need.
Look Closer
HEADLINES: RECORD-BREAKING SPACE JUMP!
31st October - 6th November 2014
TEACHER ANSWERS
The teacher answers are intended to provide a guide to the reading skill each question is practising, and to suggest more
comprehensive answers pupils may give as their reading skills progress.
CURRICULUM UPDATE - Question AF strand and levelled answers
Currently, the teacher answers provide a guide as to the AF strand of the question and possible responses from pupils
working at different levels. In the level 4/5 answers we try to provide the most complete answer possible in order to provide
teaching points when discussing the answers with pupils.
These will continue to be included for the next academic year to support schools in England where the Year 6 SATs in 2015
will still be based on these criteria. However, this term, we will update this resource to include references to the programmes
of study in the new English curriculum in England.
1) Why has Alan Eustace just entered the record books?
AF2- understand, describe, select, retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to the text
Possible answers:
L3 – identifying obvious points
• for a parachute jump
L4 – identifying relevant points
• He has just broken the record for the highest ever parachute jump.
2) What does this man normally do during the day?
AF3 – deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts
Possible answers:
L3 – simple inference
• computer scientist
L4/5 - more complex inference with explanation
• He works for Google as a computer scientist.
3) Alan Eustace broke a record set in 2012. By how many kilometres did he break the record?
AF2- understand, describe, select, retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to the text
Possible answers:
L3 – identifying obvious points
• 2 kilometres
4) To complete this incredibly feat, Alan Eustace needed a lot of special kit and equipment. List all the items you can find
mentioned in the article.
AF2- understand, describe, select, retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to the text
Possible answers:
L3 – identifying obvious points
L4 – identifying relevant points
• a parachute
• a specially-designed space suit
• a huge helium-filled balloon
• a small explosive device
5) Why was it important that the explosive worked?
AF3 – deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts
Possible answers:
L3 – simple inference
• to release him from the balloon
L4/5 - more complex inference with explanation
• The explosive device released the man from the helium balloon, so if this hadn’t have worked he would have continued floating
up into space! But if it had been too powerful, it could have injured him or damaged his parachute.
6) Find the numbers to complete the sentences:
AF2- understand, describe, select, retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to the text
Possible answers:
L3 – identifying obvious points
L4 – identifying relevant points
• It took him just over two hours to get up, but just 15 minutes to get back down again.
• He jumped from a height of 41km, or 135,000 feet.
• During his fall he reached a speed of 800 miles per hour.
• His jump took 3 years to organise.
Look Closer
HEADLINES: RECORD-BREAKING SPACE JUMP!
31st October - 6th November 2014
7) What do you think the experience of his ascent (the journey up) would have been like?
AF3 – deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts
Possible answers:
L3 – simple inference
• Slow – it took two hours.
• He was probably scared because he was going so high.
L4/5 - more complex inference with explanation
• It took two hours to get up to the jumping point, so it was probably quite slow and peaceful.
• It might have been quite quiet, as he was travelling fairly slowly and he was completely on his own.
• He might have had time to look around him and enjoy the amazing view of planet Earth.
8) What do you think his journey was like on the way down (his descent)?
AF3 – deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts
Possible answers:
L3 – simple inference
• Crazy and amazing!
• He was zooming through space and it must have felt incredible.
• Very, very scary.
L4/5 - more complex inference with explanation
• On the journey down he was travelling at incredible speeds – up to 800 mph – so it must have felt quite a violent experience.
• Plummeting to Earth at that speed, it was probably impossible to take anything in or know exactly what was happening.
• Once his parachute opened, he would have slowed down and had a slightly more peaceful end to his descent.
9) Look at the diagram showing the five layers of the Earth’s atmosphere. The lowest layer, the troposphere, is where our weather
occurs and planes fly.
AF2- understand, describe, select, retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to the text
Possible answers:
L3 – identifying obvious points
• What layer did Alan Eustace enter? - Stratosphere
• In which layer is the International Space Station?- Thermosphere
10) What could Alan Eustace see during his experience?
AF2- understand, describe, select, retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to the text
Possible answers:
L3 – identifying obvious points
• The darkness of space and the layers of atmosphere [direct quotation]
L4 – identifying relevant points
• He said he could see space, which looked very dark, and he could see the different layers of the atmosphere.
11) Look at the extra information. Why is it reasonable to say the Alan Eustace reached ‘the edge of space’?
AF3 – deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts
Possible answers:
L3 – simple inference
• Because he was almost in space, but not quite.
• He was quite close to the Karman line.
L4/5 - more complex inference with explanation
• Alan reached 41km above the Earth. Many people consider the Karman line to be where space begins and this is 100km up. In
comparison to the huge height of the atmosphere (10,000km), he was actually very close to this line. So, although you couldn’t
say he was in space, it’s fair to say he was at the ‘edge’ of space.
12) Why do you think the journalist chose to end the article with this particular quotation?
AF6 – identify and comment on writers’ purposes and viewpoints, and the overall effect of the text on the reader
Possible answers:
L3 – simple understanding of the journalist’s purpose
• It tells you what he can see.
• It’s a very interesting quotation.
L4/5 - main purpose identified with comment on overall effect on reader
• This quotation makes a good conclusion to the article. It explains what Alan Eustace himself thought about his experience. It
‘wraps up’ the story.
• It’s a powerful quotation: it is short and concise and expresses a lot of information.
• The quotation (and the article) finishes: “It was a wild, wild ride.” This is a very expressive comment and will leave the reader
wondering about his extraordinary experience. The journalist doesn’t need to add anything else to get this across.