Elementary School Science

Input:
What is the most important content in this lesson?
To reach this lesson’s objective, students need to understand:

• The history of space exploration.

• The definitions to the terms: astronaut and cosmonaut.

• The names of famous astronauts and their contributions to space exploration.

• The dates of notable space explorations.

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How will the learning of this content be facilitated?

• For the first few minutes, the students will fill out the “What I Know About Astronauts and Space Exploration” worksheet.

• The teacher will begin the class by showing the video “The Evolution of Space Exploration” (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y5QU50KA_c) . The video is about two minutes long and talks about how space exploration has evolved over the years. After the video has been presented, the teacher should begin a discussion about the content. The teacher should emphasize how space-crafts have changed over time and how, with the improvement of modern-day technology, new objects in space are being discovered.

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• After the worksheet is reviewed, the teacher will begin presenting the information on the Solar System. If it is possible, project each page of the teacher’s copy of the “All About the Solar System” Science Journal worksheet onto the board using a projector or put into a PowerPoint document and project.  The teacher’s copy of the journal has certain words/phrases that are bolded red and highlighted. It is important the teacher explain to the students those words/phrases are to be highlighted in their (students) journal. For this lesson, the teacher should review these pages:

• Pages 15-16: History of Space Exploration

**This page reviews the history of space exploration**

• Pages 17-18: Famous Astronauts

**These pages will review some of the famous astronauts in history**

• Pages 19-20:  “Space Race”

**This page explains the “Space Race” of the 20th Century between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR)*

• Pages 21-22:  Notable Space Explorations

**This page explains some of the most notable space explorations in history**  

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• After the information has been presented, the students will participate in the activity “My Planet”. The students can work individually or in pairs (no more than 2 per group). The teacher should give each student a “My Planet” outline. The students will pretend they are an astronaut who is traveling through space. During his/her travels, they discover a new planet. The students will follow the “My Planet” outline to describe the new planet he/she has discovered.  Allow the students about 15-20 minutes to complete the activity.  

**Each student/pair can either present their “Planet” or a gallery walk can be set up. For the gallery walk, each pair will place their planet poster on desks throughout the room. The students will walk around and look at their peers’ poster**

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• After the presentation or gallery walk is over, the students should reconvene and the teacher should discuss the activities. The teacher should review the vocabulary words with the students.

• The students will then fill out the “What I Learned About Astronauts and Space Exploration” worksheet.

• They will then share with the class, or with a partner, some things they wrote down in their “What I Learned About the Solar System” page.

**The students should keep both of the "What I Know" and "What I Learned" sheets in a folder to put them all together into a book when the unit is finished.​**