GRADES 3-6 SNOOPY AND NASA Celebrating the Space Station Dear Educator, Program Objectives Gaze at the stars and into the future while honoring • Fuel STEM learning and interest in space the past as you and your • Raise awareness of the 20th anniversary of humans living students join Snoopy — a on the International Space Station and instill enthusiasm for seasoned space traveler space exploration and future NASA endeavors — in celebrating the 20th • Reinforce language arts and STEM skills anniversary of humans living on the International Target Audience Fun Facts about the Space Station! Students Students in grades 3-6 and their families International will learn about the Space Station! history of the space How to Use This Program station, what life is like Download, photocopy, and distribute the three reproducible H The International Space Station is for astronauts who live activity sheets to all students, or share the PDFs through your celebrating its 20th anniversary of and work in space, and school’s digital platform if you’re connecting with students humans living in space on November 2, how NASA is planning for remotely. Prepare the materials for each activity and preview videos 2020. future space travel and in advance. Have students share their completed sheets with their H The space station circles the Earth exploration. families so that they can do the activities at the bottom of each approximately 250 miles above the sheet together. You can also share the program link with parents surface. Developed by the to do the activities with their children. Visit ymiclassroom.com/ H As of June 2020, 240 individuals from 19 curriculum specialists at snoopy-iss for standards alignment. countries have visited the space station. Young Minds Inspired H The space station is 357 feet from end as part of a unique Activity 1 to end. That’s just three feet shorter than partnership between Happy Anniversary, Space Station! an American football field (including the NASA and Peanuts end zones). Worldwide, these easy- In this activity, students learn fun facts about the space station H Up to eight spacecraft can connect to to-implement activities and celebrate the 20th anniversary of humans living in space. the space station at any time. H The space station travels about 5 miles for students in grades Materials needed: Pencils, activity sheet, crayons or markers, per second. 3-6 are standards-based access to online videos and designed to provide H It takes about 90 minutes for the space teachers with engaging Tell students that they are going to guess what they will be station to orbit the Earth. lessons to complement learning about today. Tell them first that it is celebrating its H In a 24-hour period, the space station their language arts and 20th anniversary of humans living in space in November. Then orbits Earth 16 times, which means STEM curricula. The use the “Fun Facts” at right to give them hints, one at a time, astronauts can see 16 sunrises and lessons can be taught omitting the words “space station” from each statement. sunsets in one day. remotely or in the H Astronauts on the space station have Once someone guesses correctly, tell students that they conducted more than 220 spacewalks… classroom, and each are going to watch a video featuring Jacob Keaton from activity includes extension and counting! NASA’s International Space Station Program at youtube.com/ H The space station has hosted more than suggestions the whole watch?v=6MR-qaDaG6w. Pause and discuss the video as you family can enjoy. 3,000 scientific investigations from watch it. Which facts about the space station did students find researchers in more than 100 countries. most surprising? Which facts were the most interesting? Please share this H Astronauts on the space station must program with other Tell students that the people who live on the exercise at least two hours per day to grade 3-6 teachers at space station come from all over the world. prevent bone and muscle loss. your school. And let us As of June 2020, 240 people from 19 know your opinion of different countries have lived there, the program by visiting most of them from the United States ymiclassroom.com/ and Russia. The average amount feedback-snoopy- of time an astronaut spends on iss. We look forward the space station is six months. to your comments and Some have made multiple visits to suggestions. the space station and have logged more than 365 days — cumulative, not Sincerely, consecutive — working, eating, exercising, and welcoming visitors. Three to seven crew members are on board the space Dr. Dominic Kinsley station at all times. Editor in Chief Animals have traveled there, too. Young Minds Inspired Butterflies and spiders lived on the Questions? Contact YMI toll-free at 1-800-859-8005 or by email at [email protected]. © 2020 YMI, Inc. © 2020 Peanuts Worldwide LLC ©2020 DHX Media Ltd. space station so scientists could study how going to the space station and get to bring they adapted to life in microgravity. Then one item that would fit into a shoebox. Have there’s everyone’s favorite beagle — Snoopy! students use the back of the activity sheet to Earth Calling! In 2019, a plush Snoopy doll donned a write about their item and draw a picture of helmet and space suit to float around the it on the space station. Have your students ever space station with astronauts Jessica Meir wanted to ask an astronaut and Christina Koch. And in the first season Extension Activity: Have students watch questions about life in space? of Apple TV+’s animated series Snoopy in the space station tour at youtube.com/ Celebrate the 20th anniversary Space, Snoopy and Woodstock take a trip to watch?v=A6fCa4ReHX4 and then prompt of humans living in space on the the space station and find out what it’s like to them to act as “International Space Station International Space Station by live in space. travel agents” by creating a mini travel poster chatting with an astronaut — live or brochure that encourages people to travel Pass out the activity sheet and have students to the space station and experience everyday from the space station! Visit nasa. complete the crossword puzzle. activities in a new way. Which experiences gov/iss-downlinks to find out would truly be “out of this world”? how students can participate, Answers: Across: 3. two; 4. eight; 5. miles; and to see what other 7. space walks students have asked. Down: 1. countries; 2. football; 5. minutes; Activity 3 6. space station Working in Space Extension Activity: The Peanuts team wants Students learn that an important mission of the International Space Station is to perform to create a social media post to wish the crew Space Station. Discuss the video as you watch scientific experiments in microgravity. They members on the space station a happy 20th it at nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/ will learn what microgravity is and brainstorm anniversary! Help them write a post in 280 station-science-101/why-do-science-in- experiments that they would suggest for the characters or less. microgravity/. space station. Pass out the activity sheet and review the Materials needed: Pencil, paper, crayons or Activity 2 directions with the students. Life on the Space Station markers Divide the students into Students will watch a few short videos Ask students if they think there is gravity on Extension Activity: small groups and have them use what they about the everyday life of crew members on the International Space Station. Remind them have learned so far about astronauts and the the space station. Then, they will step into of the definition of gravity — a force that International Space Station to create a help Snoopy’s space boots and imagine what his life attracts a body toward the center of the Earth, wanted ad to recruit a mission team to create was like when he was aboard the space station or toward any other physical body having an experiment related to microgravity. What in the Apple TV+ series Snoopy in Space. mass. Gravity keeps the Moon in Earth’s orbit skills would the candidates need? What tasks and the planets orbiting the sun. Gravity is do you think they might be required to do? Materials needed: Pencils, activity sheet, everywhere in space. It is the force that holds crayons or markers; access to online videos the universe together. NASA scientists refer Ask students to share the things they do to some areas as having microgravity because International Space Station in a typical day. For example, what do they the force of gravity there, while present, feels Anniversary Events do in the morning before school? What is very slight compared to the force of gravity Tune into nasa.gov for special anniversary something they do during the day? What on Earth. There is even gravity on the space events, including: about when they go to bed at night? Then station — about 90 percent of the gravity we • Special messages from the astronauts ask them to imagine how crew members feel on the ground. • Storytime with the astronauts aboard the International Space Station do • 70th anniversary of Peanuts comic strip So why do astronauts appear to be floating (October 2) everyday activities. How are they the same? in the International Space Station if they still How are they different? have gravity? It is because they are actually in Resources Part 1: Show the students the following four “free fall” as they circle the Earth. The space short videos and discuss the content as you station moves amazingly fast, about 17,500 • apple.co/snoopyinspace view them.