1969 Senior Division CONTENTS ABSTRACT. ii SALIENT FEATURES. 1 SYLLABUS . 3 The Moon . 3 Introduction to Flight . 4 The Current Space Scene. 4 Using Telescopes . 5 Life for Man in Space . 5 The Stellar Population . 6 Space Law and Politics . 6 The Way Into Space. 7 Great Ideas in Astronomy. 8 Fiction About Space. 8 Opening the Windows . 9 Rocketry. 9 Probing the Upper Atmosphere . 10 Further Themes for Student Choice. 11 The Impact of Space on Humanity . 11 Canada’s Contribution in Space . 12 Applications of Mathematics . 12 Origins . 13 Communication by Satellite . 13 The Planets. 14 Science and Technology. 14 Are We Alone . 15 IMPLEMENTING THE LOCAL PLAN 16 Determining the Program . 16 Sharing the Teaching. 16 Three Ways for One Theme . 16 Assessment. 20 Student Projects . 20 RESOURCES 22 Periodicals . 22 Books. 23 Other Learning Materials . 27 l Cover photo: National Research Council ABSTRACT TCiese guidelines to Space and Man are provided so that teachers and students will be able to plan for studies centered on space. The domain of the course extends from the earth’s surface through space to the farthest galaxies. In time, the domain stretches from the earliest astronomical observations to the present use of sophisticated probes and instruments. Just as important as the characteristics and exploration of space is the experience of mankind with space. Accordingly, the domain includes many aspects of man’s concern with space. For centuries men have looked up from the world at their feet, have pondered over origins, have speculated, and have recorded their thoughts in words and other art forms. Now that man has entered space, new problems of law, social responsibility, politics, personal values, technical excellence, and scientific significance have emerged. The domain of this course, therefore, is as broad as man’s experience in space. Space and Man extends through the humanities and the sciences. Itself an interdisciplinary course, it uses the disciplines of mathematics, language, the sciences, economics, history, political science, engineering, and many others as tools. The specialized skills and data from the disciplines support the course in a natural fashion. Thus the student will derive general education, rather than training in any one discipline. The syllabus lists at random some twenty themes that represent possible topics for the course. Through consensus, staff members and students can select the range of topics which will best define a course. No special order of topics is suggested, nor is any particular continuity proposed here, but rather it is proposed that each class adopt the order as well as the themes suitable for the goals, interests, and talents of its members. The thread of continuity that students follow will be one that they themselves devise. Some of these topics may prove suitable for intensive treatment, some for extensive treatment. Some will be suitable for group work, some for individual pursuit. Throughout the program there is frequent occasion to use films, books, periodicals, apparatus, instruments, and other prime materials of the men who work with space. In some degree the selected themes overlap. Students who begin their studies from discrete themes will find that events in space are related to each other. So extensive are the relations between ideas, that it is not likely that significant, relevant ones will be missed. What might be omitted in one theme may well emerge in another. In brief. Space and Man may provide another domain in which to develop understanding. No attempt has been made to provide a course as stable as a pyramid where one concept logically follows another. Rather, these guidelines make it possible for each student to develop a network of understanding, like strands of spider silk stretching to every corner and interlacing at a thousand points. n Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from University of Toronto https://archive.org/details/spacemanseniordiOOonta SALIENT FEATURES and Man recognizes man’s experience in space, and provides for study in this new domain. Until this century, man has lived close to the interface between the atmosphere and the surface of land and water. Trips upwards by balloonists and downwards by divers and miners were short when compared to the size of the earth. Most school studies, such as geography, chemistry and history, however, had their locale in this interface. This course includes a new dimension, the dimension leading to the depths of space. From these depths, students can select areas for inquiry and exploration. Space with its diversity presents a field of study almost infinite in scope. It starts from the air upwards through cloud and sky, to the upper atmosphere, to the moon, and from the sun to the farthest planets and beyond. The events within this domain are numerous: the changing cloud cover, the aurora, the rivalries in space exploration, meteor trails, the economics of space programs, the motions of the planets, the decisions that enhance international co-operation, the design of space vehicles, safety and air travel, aerodyna¬ mics, and cosmology. Each layer of the space above the earth has its own story of penetration, from kites and balloons to aeroplanes and rockets. The operation of telescopes, rocket probes, and sensitive satellites shows the measure of our science and technology. In addition to suggesting a new field for study, this course offers a new opportunity for decision-making. Students and teachers can design their own programs from the twenty themes proposed. Some courses in the past have been largely oriented to the presentation of facts, concepts, and principles in one suggested order to achieve one pre-determined end. In this course, it is assumed that each class has its own purposes, each student his own objectives, and each teacher his own hopes. Then, to move toward these goals, the class will have the responsibility of discussing and selecting themes. This dialogue can be a continuing feature, for as themes develop, new interests appear. Perhaps dialogue and the achievement of consensus are as important as the other experiences of the program. For to make dialogue does not just mean to discuss, but it also means to learn, to understand, to respect, to advise, to participate, to build, and to become responsible. Who are likely to choose Space and Man as part of their program? Many students are seeking a general education that will probe for answers to the great questions, “What is this world like? What is my place in this world? Who am I? ” This course can open up some of these important questions. Some students whose interests lie in the humanities may want to feel at home in the other culture, the culture of science and technology. This course can bridge the two. Other students whose main interests lie in the sciences and technology may choose Space and Man because some themes lead from these fields into the other world of arts and letters. The course is not, however, designed to prepare students for post-secondary education in the science-oriented fields. Those intending to continue their education in science and technology are more likely to elect courses in such school subjects as biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics. Space and Man follows themes, not disciplines. Quite clearly the course is not physics, although some work may include physics; nor is this a science course although many students may select themes that will be successfully followed only if the student at work refers to one of the disciplines of science. For Space and Man crosses through many disciplines, while it uses their resources. An interdisciplinary study such as this, becomes strong when the armoury of the subject disciplines is put within reach of student hands. The course becomes less effective if no reference is made to the heritage of experience represented in the specific disciplines and if every situation is treated as a wholly new event. Though the course is centred around space, it invites departures into any matter that interests the student. From themes it may lead to the disciplines. That it leads to planets, stars, and galaxies is natural, and of course here the student will refer to the discipline of 1 astronomy. That some students will read fanciful stories of space travel is probable — they may even write their own - and of course this is a departure towards literature and journalism. Similarly when the students read of the costs of space projects they will consider economic issues. When they hear of rival national claims, they will find decisions that are rooted in the specialties of history and law. But the course never becomes centred on disciplines. Students of Space and Man will likely see themselves as citizens with a responsibility both for their fellow Canadians and for the welfare of mankind. Recent achievements in space have not ended the world’s problems, nor are decisions in this domain easy. Science and technology are themselves amoral, yet man’s use of them involves social, economic, and political decisions. Each student and citizen understands to a greater or lesser degree the importance of these decisions, yet all are affected by them. Those who do not understand the basis for the decisions become mere consumers of technology, and perhaps feel themselves aliens in a changing world. Those taking this course may be able to appreciate that one of the problems involved in research in space and astronomy is justifying the expenditure of public funds on specific projects. There are usually cogent arguments, both pro and con. Students can have the intellectual and emotional satisfaction of taking a stand on the relevance of the objective and on the suitability of the means to achieve that objective.