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These lesson plans have been cre
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educational experts at Teachit Pri
• Space and Science
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• Love and the Importance of Fam
Physical Books
• Audio Recordings vs. Reading
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You will also find a page of questio
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Best wishes from everyone at Penguin Schools
LESSON ONE
T H E M E : S PAC E A N D S C I E N C E
LESSON OBJECTIVES
rize
• To read a passage and summa
the key details.
nt to
• To plan a fair science experime
answer a question.
ord
• To take measurements and rec
results accurately.
• STARTER ACTIVITY
Share the extract (New Recording 14) with the
children and ask them to read this independently.
What mistake did Alex make before launching his
rocket? Discuss the importance of practice and
testing in science. How could Alex have tested his
rocket launch?
Imagine that you are Alex and you have done your
first test run. You want your rocket to fly as far as
possible so what variables could you test to make sure
you create the rocket that will travel the furthest?
• MAIN ACTIVITY
TASK ONE:
1. Ask the children about common features of
rocket ships and discuss the reasons for these
features. Explain to the children that we are first
going to try flying a rocket made of the main
body and a nose. When we have tested this, we
will add fins to the bottom of the rocket. Ask the
children to record their predictions of what they
think will happen when they add fins to their
rockets using the resource 'Rocket Science'.
Will the rocket go further or not as far? Why?
2. Share the rocket-building materials with the
children. Ask them to work in pairs and to
YOU WILL NEED:
• cardboard tubes (from kitchen/toilet
rolls), empty plastic bottles, coloured
card, cardboard, scissors, sticky tape,
metre sticks and tape measures.
• A copy of the resource 'Rocket Science'
for each child.
choose whether they want to use a cardboard
tube or a plastic bottle for the main body of their
rocket. Provide coloured card for the children
to make a cone for the nose of their rocket.
Demonstrate how to make a cone by drawing
round a circular object (such as a roll of tape or
a CD) and cutting a triangle out of it. Model how
to twist this into a cone shape and secure it to
the main body of the rocket using sticky tape.
Ask them to draw a labelled diagram of their
rocket and to list the equipment they have used
on the resource 'Rocket Science'.
3. Discuss fair testing and the importance of
only changing one variable (i.e. the fins). Ask
the children how we can make sure this is a
fair test and ask them to record their ideas on
the resource. Clarify that they should consider
reducing as many variables as possible by using
the same main rocket in their second run, and the
same person should throw the rocket each time.
4. It’s now time for the children to test their
rockets! Find a large space to use and ask
the children to have three attempts at
throwing their rocket as far as they can. Use
metre sticks and tape measures to measure
the distance and ask the children to record
their method, results and their observations
using the resource 'Rocket Science'.
TASK TWO:
1. Demonstrate how to make and secure triangular
fins to the base of the rocket.
2. Ask children to repeat their test as before. They
should have three attempts at throwing the
second rocket as far as they can. Again, they
should use metre sticks and tape measures to
measure the distance and record their method,
results and observations using the resource
'Rocket Science'.
TASK THREE
1. In pairs, the children should discuss their
results. Which rocket travelled the furthest? Was
their prediction correct? Ask them to record
their ideas as a conclusion using the resource
'Rocket Science'.
2. Which material was best for the body of the
rocket? Ask the children to circulate the class
and compare their results with the other pairs.
Overall, did the cardboard rockets travel further
or the plastic ones?
• EXTENSION
Which other variables could we test? Ask the
children to try making the fins from a different
material such as tissue paper – does this affect their
results? The children could also try making their fins
in different shapes.
• PLENARY
Compile an email as a class to explain to Alex how
he could make his plane go further and which
variables he could try testing. Could the rockets we
have made make it to space? Why not? Discuss that
the materials we have used would not be suitable
for space travel but that the concept of fins and
aerodynamic features could still help Alex with
his test.
EXTRACT
From ‘New Recording 14'
[wind blowing]
[fabric fluttering]
…can’t believe…[muffled]…still works…
I thought it was broken for sure.
[sniffling]
You guys are probably thinking… You’re thinking how can he still be making recordings if
Voyager 3 is in space?
Voyager 3 didn’t make it into space. It didn’t even go a hundred feet before…be…
[sniffling]
I’m not making any sense again.
I shouldn’t have yelled at that kid Noah afterwards. I didn’t mean to say that stuff about his dad
doing all the work for him. I don’t hate that kid, I just felt bad because my rocket failed and his went really
high, and my rocket didn’t even go half as high as his did. That rocket simulator didn’t work at all…
I did apologize to Noah, though. He accepted my apology, and his dad said it’s OK, it’s no big
deal. Everyone told me it’s OK, they’ve all had rockets crash and there’s always next time. I said I
know there’s next time but it’s my fault that there wasn’t this time.
I let my excitement get the better of me, and it left the worse of me behind, and the worse of me
did a bad job of gluing Voyager 3 in the dark.
[sniffling]
On the Golden Record there isn’t anything about the times our rockets failed, even though they
did. That’s because my hero wanted to put our best foot forward. He didn’t want to put in anything
about our rockets exploding because what if you guys saw that and thought we were trying to make
them explode on your planet? Then you’d probably be scared and hide from us. Or maybe you’d try to
blow us up before we could do it to you.
But my hero also said that knowledge is better than ignorance, and it’s better to find out and
embrace the truth even if that truth might not feel good. I wanted to put my best foot forward just like
my hero, but I believe in the truth too, so that’s why I’m telling you guys what happened… why I’m
telling you my rocket crashed.
The worst part is that I was so close. I was here at SHARF and it was a beautiful day and I made
so many new friends and they were all watching, and I could’ve prevented the crash if only I was
more careful. Or if only I practised launching my rocket ahead of time.
R E S O U RC E : RO C K E T S C I E N C E
WHAT MAKES A ROCKET TRAVEL FURTHER?
We are going to test whether a rocket travels further with or without fins. Write your
prediction below. Do you think the rocket will go further with fins or without them?
Can you explain why?
PREDICTION
DIAGRAMS
Draw labelled diagrams of your rockets below.
ROCKET ONE
EQUIPMENT
ROCKET TWO
FAIR TEST
How will we make this a fair test? What will we change and what will we keep the same?
METHOD
RESULTS
TEST ONE
TEST TWO
TEST THREE
FURTHEST DISTANCE
ROCKET ONE
ROCKET TWO
OBSERVATIONS
Include some notes below about what you notice during your tests. Which rocket flew more smoothly, for
example? Did the rockets travel in a straight line? Write down what you see happening.
CONCLUSION
Which rocket travelled the furthest? Was your prediction correct? Why do you think you got these
results?
L E S S O N T WO
T H E M E : LOV E A N D T H E I M P O RTA N C E O F FA M I LY
LESSON OBJECTIVES
love
• To consider the importance of
in families.
words
• To explore the meaning of the
t.
love, family and braver y in contex
in
• To identify important people
children’s lives and their positive
qualities.
• STARTER ACTIVITY
Share Resource 1 'Question Cards' with the children.
In pairs, ask the children to shuffle their pack of
cards and place them face down on the table. They
should take turns to pick a card and each child must
verbally answer the questions about love, family and
bravery. Share answers and create class definitions
for each word.
• MAIN ACTIVITY
Ask the children to read extract 'New Recording
48' independently. Discuss the idea that family
isn’t necessarily made up of those people who are
biologically related to you. It’s the people who help
you, love you and look after you. If necessary, amend
the class definition of family to reflect this.
Tell the children that Alex needs help launching his
rocket into space. He needs a crew of astronauts
to take his iPod into space to try to make contact
with alien life. The children are going to be the
Commander of their crew and they need to choose
three or four people that they love and care about
(either family members or a mix of family members
and close friends) to join them on their mission.
Ask the children to consider why they are choosing
those people. What qualities do these people have
that they would like or need in their crew? Share
some examples as a class, e.g. 'I have chosen my
mum because she loves me and keeps me safe.'
She is very calm and always knows what to do when
things go wrong, so she would be able to help me in
dangerous situations.
Provide a piece of A3 paper for the children along
with Resource 2 'ID Badges' and Resource 3
'Astronaut fact files'. (NB You will need to have copied
and cut up enough copies of resource 2 to provide
one for each child in the class and enough copies of
resource 3 to enable each child to have four.) Ask the
children to think of a name for their crew and explain
that they will be creating a poster to present their crew.
They should first complete their own ID badge to show
that they are the Commander. Provide five examples
of astronaut positions (Pilot, Mission Specialist, Flight
Engineer, Payload Specialist, Science Officer) for them
to assign to their crew members. The children should
then complete the fact files with concise explanations
for the importance of their crew members to them.
They should stick their ID badges and fact files on to
their poster along with their spaceship name.
• EXTENSION
Place the children in small groups to share their
posters and ask each other questions about their crew
to find out more details about the importance of their
families.
• PLENARY
Read extract 'New Recording 49' as a class. Discuss
the idea that love and bravery aren’t always things
that you see. They’re things that you feel. Ask the
children to explain their understanding of Alex’s
use of the word shadows to describe these feelings
and these words. Revisit the class definitions
from the starter activity and consider whether
children want to change them at all. Conclude
with the idea that love and family last beyond
what we can see. Even after family members pass
away like Alex’s dad, the feeling of love and family
remain in and around you in the shadows.
EXTRACT ONE
From 'New Recording 48'
Ronnie came inside and he said, Great job, and I said I’m sure that the social worker is going to
be really impressed at how clean and Febreeze-smelling the house is now. He said don’t tell her that
we cleaned up, just pretend it’s like this all the time, and I said I wish I didn’t have to pretend. I said,
I wish we did this every weekend, because the grass is going to get longer and the house is going
to get dirty and smelly and filled with garbage, and we’ll have to clean it up all over again. And then
Ronnie went back outside because he had more work to do.
After lunch Terra told me to rest for a while, I shouldn’t strain myself too much because I’m still
recovering from my accident. So I rested with Carl Sagan on the sofa and everyone else got back to
work getting the house in order. The guys scrubbed the tub and tiles in the bathroom and Terra swept
and mopped the floor of the kitchen so it’s not all sticky, and I watched them and I watched Ronnie
outside, and I thought maybe if my dad was still alive I’d be watching HIM mow the lawn and clean
out the leaves from the gutters, and maybe if my mom wasn’t in the behavioural health hospital I’d be
watching HER sweep the spiderwebs from the ceilings with a broom.
And then I started wondering, What the heck is a dad anyway? I mean, if you’re talking about a
biological dad I had one, but what about a non-biological dad? If it’s someone to protect you from bad
stuff that happens and someone you can help mow the lawn and clean the house, then I have Ronnie
and Terra, and if it’s someone you can look up to and follow in their footsteps, then I have my hero
Dr. Sagan, and if it’s someone who you can laugh and drive places with, then the guys did that too,
so what’s the difference? And why is it that the more I think about that word – dad – the less I know
what it means? It’s the same with words like love and truth and bravery too, the more I think about
them and say them over, the less sense they make. Love. Truth. Bravery. Bravery. Truth. Love. It’s like,
I know those things are out there, I know they exist, but the more I think about them the more it feels
like they’re talking about a lot of different things put together, or they’re talking about the same thing,
but… what?
Do you know?
Do you guys have a word for it?
EXTRACT TWO
From 'New Recording 49'
And the sun was coming through the windows of our living room and there were little pieces of
dust floating in the sunbeams, and I thought, isn’t it interesting that a couple of weeks ago Ronnie
was in LA and I didn’t even know I had a Terra, and now the three of us are sitting together on the
same sofa for the first time, and we all have the same dad and we’re all here because of my dad,
he brought us all together, even after he died… and I looked at Terra and I looked at Ronnie and I
saw the same green eyes, and it felt like our dad was there in the room with us too, not like a ghost
or anything, not watching us, but everywhere. He was in Ronnie and Terra’s eyes and he was in
their faces and their skin and hair, and he was in my face and my skin and hair and these are like
his shadows, they’re how we know he existed, that he was real, and he used to walk around on the
carpet in the living room and drink from the same water glasses and those are shadows also, and
his back and butt-prints were still in the Lay-Z-Boy where Juanita was sitting, that’s a shadow too!
And if I’m still seeing them, still seeing his shadows, still learning things from Terra and Ronnie and
the internet about him that I didn’t know before, then, doesn’t that mean that even though he died
there’s something about him that keeps living? That there’s something four-dimensional, a tesseract,
that never dies and we can never really see, and what if… what if these things I’ve been trying to
figure out like the meaning of bravery and truth, what if the reason they’re so hard to see is because
they’re ALSO tesseracts. What if they’re the SAME tesseract? What if the times when we feel love
and act brave and tell the truth are all the times we’re four-dimensional, the times we’re as big and
everywhere as the cosmos, the times when we remember, like, REALLY remember, really KNOW, that
we’re made of starstuff and we’re human beings with dads that died when we were three and older
brothers who live in LA, and moms who have schizophrenia and Terras we didn’t know about and
heroes who wear turtlenecks and friends with Zen cones and side adventures and sensitive digestive
systems and… And! These words we try to use to describe it, to describe that feeling, these words
like love and bravery and truth, the reason that they can’t describe it all the way either, is because
THEY’RE all shadows too! WORDS ARE SHADOWS TOO!
R E S O U RC E 1 : Q U E S T I O N C A R D S
WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST
ABOUT YOUR FAMILY?
HOW CAN YOU SHOW
SOMEONE THAT YOU
LOVE THEM?
HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE
THERE IN YOUR FAMILY?
CAN YOU NAME ONE
PERSON THAT YOU LOVE
AND TELL ME WHY YOU
LOVE THEM?
HOW DO YOU HELP THE
PEOPLE YOU LOVE?
WHO IS ALWAYS THERE
TO HELP YOU?
WHO LOVES YOU?
✂
CAN YOU DESCRIBE A
TIME WHEN YOU HAD
TO BE BRAVE?
IS IT EASY TO BE BRAVE?
WHO IS THE BRAVEST
PERSON THAT YOU KNOW?
WHAT MAKES THEM BRAVE?
R E S O U RC E 2 : I D BA D G E
NAME
NAME
POSITION
COMMANDER
POSITION
NAME
POSITION
POSITION
✂
NAME
R E S O U RC E 3 : AS T RO N AU T FAC T F I L E S
NAME
RELATIONSHIP
TO COMMANDER
POSITION
REASON FOR
INCLUSION IN
MISSION
✂
NAME
RELATIONSHIP
TO COMMANDER
POSITION
✂
REASON FOR
INCLUSION IN
MISSION
LESSON THREE
T H E M E : AU D I O R E C O R D I N G S VS. R E A D I N G B O O K S
• SS ON OBJE CT IV ES
LE
on
• To explain and discuss views
a topic.
speak
• To take part in a debate and
clearly to present an argument.
nd
• To listen to others and respo
to points made.
• STARTER ACTIVITY
Share the extract 'New Recording 1' with the children and
ask them to read this independently. Play the remainder
of the chapter to the children via the audio recording at
po.st/cosmosaudio (from 2:17 onwards). Ask the children
to discuss in pairs the pros and cons of audio recordings
vs. reading. Provide resource 1 'Pros and Cons' for them to
record their notes. Share some ideas as a class, recording a
range of suggestions on an enlarged copy of resource 1 for
the children to use as a reference during the main activities.
By a show of hands, ask the children to vote for whether
they preferred reading or listening to the chapte.
• MAIN ACTIVITY
TASK ONE:
Split the children into small groups, placing them with
others who share their opinion. Explain to the children
that they are going to take part in a class debate. Discuss
the use of persuasive language in a debate to present an
argument effectively. Collect some examples of persuasive
language and sentence starters from the children. Provide
resource 2 'The Power of Persuasion' and ask the children
to complete the sentences with the reasons for their opinion
to use in the debate. The children should then share and
discuss their ideas with their group. They should settle on at
least one or two points each to present during the debate.
TASK TWO:
Ensure that the children understand that a debate is not an
argument. Make it clear that the children shouldn’t raise
their voices and they should listen to each other’s points
carefully and politely. Depending on the nature of the class
and the space available etc., either set up a whole class
debate or split the class in half to have two simultaneous
debates. Recap the nature of the debate before it proceeds,
and monitor the children to ensure that all children take part
and that they take it in turns to speak and listen. Children
should be given the opportunity to directly respond to
opinions they disagree with.
TASK THREE:
When the main points have been aired and the debate is
coming to a close, ask the children to gather as a group in
their teams and discuss ideas for a 'closing argument'. The
children should choose three or four of their main points
and select a member of the team to summarize their team’s
argument. The closing statements should then be shared
with the opposing team. Discuss how this is different
from the debate itself. The children are no longer actively
challenging each other’s views. They are instead reminding
everyone of the main reasons for their views.
• EXTENSION
Ask the children to think of some questions to ask
the other team. Encourage them to ask challenging
questions that will help their own cause, e.g. 'Don’t you
find it harder to use your imagination when you listen
to an audio recording though? Isn’t it clear that reading
gives you the chance to picture the characters and
imagine their voices for yourself?'
• PLENARY
Ask the children to evaluate the debate with a partner.
Feedback some ideas as a class. Did they enjoy the debate?
Were they able to present your argument effectively? Was
there anyone who was particularly persuasive? Did anyone
manage to persuade others to change their mind?
Take a closing vote on the theme of audio recordings
vs. reading books. Discuss if there any changes from
the initial vote. If any children changed their minds,
ask them to explain why. Use the final vote as an
opportunity to show that, despite the debate, we all still
have a difference of opinion. Nobody is 'righ' or 'wrong'
with their opinion and a debate is a chance to air your
views and arguments, not necessarily find a definitive
answer either way.
EXTRACT ONE
From 'New Recording 1'
Who are you?
What do you look like?
Do you have one head or two?
More?
Do you have light brown skin like I do or smooth grey skin like a dolphin or spiky green skin like a
cactus?
Do you live in a house?
I live in a house. My name is Alex Petroski and my house is in Rockview, Colarado, United States
of America, Planet Earth. I am eleven years and eight months old and the United States is two
hundred forty-two years old and Earth is 4.5 billion years old. I’m not sure how old my house is.
Maybe you live on an ice planet, so instead of houses you have igloos and your hands are icepicks
and your feet are snowshoes and you’re covered in gold-brown fur like Carl Sagan. That’s my dog. I
named him after my hero, Dr. Carl Sagan, who was one of the greatest astronomers of our time. Dr.
Sagan helped send Voyagers 1 and 2 into deep space and put a Golden Record on them with all kinds
of sounds from our planet, like whales singing and people saying hello in fifty-five languages, and the
laugh of a newborn baby and the brainwaves of a woman in love and mankind’s greatest music like
Bach and Beethoven and Chuck Berry. Maybe you’ve heard it?
I found my pup Carl Sagan in the parking lot at Safeway, and when I saw him he was dirty and
hungry and hiding behind a dumpster. I said, Come here boy, don’t be scared, but he was crying and
curling his tail because we were still strangers at that point. I told him I’m not going to hurt him, I’m
a pacifist, and I guess he believed me because when I picked him up he didn’t even fight me or try to
run. Then I took him back to my house and my mom was lying on the sofa watching her shows like
she usually does, and I told her I got the groceries but I got a pup also and I’ll take good care of him I
promise, I’ll play with him and feed him and give him a bath and all the stuff you’re supposed to say.
And she said, You’re in the way! So I got out of the way. My best friend Benji’s mom would freak if
he brought home a pup, but my mom, she doesn’t care as long as I make us dinner and don’t bother
her when she’s watching her shows. She’s a pretty cool mom.
R E S O U RC E 1 : P RO S A N D C O N S
Record some notes below on the pros and cons of audio recordings vs. reading books.
Use your notes to help make your decision on which you think is the best way to
discover a new story.
AUDIO
PROS
CONS
READING
PROS
CONS
R E S O U RC E 2 : T H E P OW E R O F P E R SUAS I O N
Complete the sentences below with reasons for your viewpoint. Use these sentences to
help you to present your argument during the debate.
I BELIEVE THAT
I AM CERTAIN THAT
FOR THIS REASON
I FEEL STRONGLY THAT
R E S O U RC E 2 : T H E P OW E R O F P E R SUAS I O N
Try writing some more sentences using a range of words and phrases from the boxes
below to add more detail to your argument.
For example . . .
Also . . .
The fact is . . .
The evidence
shows . . .
It is clear that . . .
Definitely
Don’t forget that…
Remember that . . .
As you can see . . . It's only fair to say . . . You must see that . . .
Finally . . .