“The Martian: STEM on Mars and Beyond” For further information contact… Lockett & Rigel Bok Academy 13901 US 27 Lake Wales, Florida 33859 863-638-1010 [email protected] [email protected] David Lockett Paul Rigel 2019 - 2020 IDEA CATALOG OF EXCELLENCE n PROGRAM OVERVIEW Some of the tasks will involve This project builds on classroom projects to create, invent, or innovate learning, engaging students’ enthusiasm Ever wanted to take your students items that will be needed for the first and inventiveness in conjunction with on an exciting journey? What if you could humans to live and work on a planet NASA-approved lesson plans. This take that journey from the comfort of that is about 50 million miles from Earth! memorable experience may inspire a the classroom or out-of-school learning future space explorer! Given the national environment? Welcome to Mission Over the course of multi-unit priority to increase student participation to Mars! Earth supplies humans with lessons, you and your students will in STEM subjects, your participation everything we need to live. But what learn about and plan a mission to is more crucial than ever. Ready, set, about when humans leave Earth? Mars. Students will apply their creativity let’s go! As humans travel deeper into space, and science and math knowledge to explore the Red Planet. Not a scientist how will humans adapt to their new n OVERALL VALUE environments - like Mars? What will or engineer? That’s okay! You’re going humans need or pack for such a journey? to learn everything you need to know Students will apply scientific while preparing for and conducting these concepts, math skills, critical thinking, NASA is studying places like Mars lessons. And you actually already have research, and engineering design and is in the planning stages as to where some engineering skills, whether you to plan a long term habitat on Mars. next to send astronauts. What will be the know it or not. This creative and in-depth project special tools they will need as is a great activity for your they travel to other planets? classroom instruction. Sharing How are these new places ideas inspire new learning different from Earth and what opportunities to persevere must humans do to live there? and unique experiences is What types of habitats will ideal. Teachers can adapt this they live in? What will be the program by offering different transportation they will use planets and different design to get around on a far-away challenges. Students receive planet? What special tools will design criteria for a rover and help them survive and thrive in conduct basic research on these new places? Mars to determine operational This project challenges objectives and the structural students to think about the features of their rover. necessities of living on the Red Planet. “The Martian: STEM on Mars and Beyond” This program can be used as part of a class studying general science, earth science, solar system astronomy, robotics, or as a multi-disciplinary unit for a gifted program. n LESSON PLAN TITLES • Mission Mars • Plants and Gravity • The Lunar Rover Challenge n MATERIALS See individual lesson plans. n ABOUT THE DEVELOPERS David Lockett is the STEM/IT/ robotics teacher at Edward W. Bok Academy in Lake Wales, Florida. He is driven by technology, especially aerospace, astronomy, and robotics. He was part of the winning team in the NASA Space Apps Challenge and is currently helping design an app for NASA. David believes that fostering students’ confidence in becoming independent learners is paramount, and he enjoys fostering this confidence daily through the many programs offered by NASA as well as by teaching coding and programming skills. Paul Rigel is the Ag teacher at Edward W. Bok Academy in Lake Wales, Florida. He is also an active FFA member. Paul is proud of his students’ accomplishments and very much appreciates working with a supportive community. By offering them many opportunities in and out of the classroom, it peak their interests. H H H 2019 - 2020 IDEA CATALOG OF EXCELLENCE “The Martian: STEM on Mars & Beyond” David Lockett & Paul Rigel Lesson Plan No No 1: Mission Mars n SUBJECTS COVERED ELA-Literacy.RI.6.7 n DIRECTIONS Language Arts, Technology, Science Integrate information presented in Students will work is small groups. different media or formats (e.g., Students will be assigned jobs/tasks in visually, quantitatively) as well as their group. in words to develop a coherent n GRADES understanding of a topic or issue. To get students’ attention on the topic of technology used in exploring 6-8 grades ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.1 Mars, they should use their Mission: Cite specific evidence to support Mars student sheet to go to and watch analysis of science and technical this two-minute long NASA video, texts. called Curiosity Rover Report: Rover n OBJECTIVES Walkabout, with live footage from ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.6 Students will co-create a mock exploration by the Mars rover, Curiosity, Wikipedia page called Mission: Mars Analyze the author’s purpose in narrated by an engaging young geologist describing how the U.S. plans to send providing an explanation, describing and space scientist with magenta blaze the first crew to Mars by the year a procedure, or discussing an in her hair, Eileen. experiment in a text. 2035. (The goal is to help them extract Ask students these questions from their meaning from the book and understand ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.8 Mission: Mars student sheet: key technologies that make travel to Distinguish among facts, reasoned Mars by humans possible. Working in Name three of Curiosity’s judgment based on research three groups to break this large topic instruments and describe how findings, and speculation in a text. in thirds, the students will write and technology helps produce illustrate Wiki contributions that are then information about the Martian landscape. integrated into a single Wiki entry.) n MATERIALS (Curiosity has 1. cameras on her • Classroom copies of the book, mast that function as eyes to scan the Mission: Mars by Pascal Lee n STANDARDS landscape and pick a site to investigate • Misson: Mars student sheet - as well as 2. the APXS [alpha particle FSS / NGSSS http://sciencenetlinks.com/student- x-ray spectrometer] and 3. the Mahli ELA-Literacy.RI.6.1 teacher-sheets/mission-mars- Mars Hand Lens Imager that both help student-sheet_1/ scientists get data to determine if the Cite textual evidence to support site is a good place for taking a sample analysis of what the text says • Writing supplies of pens, pencils, to examine in the onboard laboratory.) explicitly as well as inferences colored markers, paper, tape drawn from the text. • Optional: long roll of butcher paper Why is the Martian geologic feature called Pink Cliffs ELA-Literacy.RI.6.3 or string of clothesline and pins for displaying students’ customized interesting for scientists to Analyze in detail how a key individual, boot treads investigate? event, or idea is introduced, (Because it is rock with a crystal illustrated, and elaborated in a • NASA video - Curiosity Rover structure of blade-shaped crystals that text (e.g., through examples or Report: Rover Walkabout suggest the presence of water helped anecdotes). the crystals form. Knowing if Mars once ELA-Literacy.RI.6.4 had water is important for assessing n VOCABULARY Determine the meaning of words and its suitability for sustaining human life phrases as they are used in a text, • Astronomy because humans need water to live.) including figurative, connotative, • Space Then, to get students primed about and technical meanings. the specific topic of Mars and this • Science book, they should visit The Scholastic • Careers Mission: Mars website. It has a video of Pascal Lee, the book’s author, in which he discusses his work and the book. This will help students bond with the 2019 - 2020 IDEA CATALOG OF EXCELLENCE “The Martian: STEM on Mars & Beyond” David Lockett & Paul Rigel Lesson Plan No No 1: Mission Mars (cont.) narrator and get in the spirit of the book n ACCOMMODATIONS When finished with the Boot to motivate them to learn more about Prints, get creative with your options the topic. Teacher will assess peer tutoring in for displaying the class’s collection of the group environment. The teacher can Ask students these questions: custom-designed boot bottoms. Hang provide students with written copies of them across the room from a clothesline, Why is Mars interesting to study? vocabulary. Students can be partnered or post them on hall walls to engage up to complete the activity. (Because there might be life there other students’ curiosity by having the and that is a major scientific foot prints lead to your room for Mars question: Does life only exist on Day, where you show and tell what your Earth?) n EVALUATION/ students know about technology’s role in making travel to Mars by 2035 possible. Why does an astronaut talk about ASSESSMENT Or make a bulletin board montage. ping pong? Assess students’ learning of the Do they play it in space? main benchmark ideas on science and technology through this lesson with a (In this case, ping pong is not a summative assessment exercise that game! It is Astronaut Pascal Lee’s dog, utilizes a print out of the Boot Print n ADDL INFORMATION and he used his dog’s ability to obey student sheet. It shows the bottom of Resource Credit to: http:// commands to show us how his book an astronaut’s boot—and serves as a sciencenetlinks.com/ and this class unit on Mars can help us coloring-book template on which each understand the importance of science student can invent his and her own and technology in space exploration.