Brief Description

While participating in an interdisciplinary unit on space, students are fascinated by the history of space missions.  Scholastic.com has created a very user-friendly timeline of these historical space events.   Each student in the class will use this site to research one historical event, create a big book page, and together as a class compose a space timeline big book to share.

Standards and Frameworks

Technology Standards

5T-E1. Locate information from electronic resources

Academic Standards

W-E6. Write formal communications, such as personal or business letters, messages, directions and applications, in an appropriate format and for a specific audience and purpose.

Objectives

Academic

By the end of this lesson students will research a milestone in space travel using scholastic.com and compose a page to create a class timeline big book.

Technological

By the end of this lesson students will use scholastic.com to research a milestone in space travel.

Pre-Requisite Technology Skills

• Word Processing skills
• Internet searching

• One computer for each student to research on.
• Poster board for cover of book and back
• 31 big pieces of paper for student pages
• Markers/colored pencils/crayons
• Printer
• Binder rings to hold the final book together
• Print off the scholastic site and make informational cards incase the lab isn’t available
• Discovery Kids Magazine Space if available (if you don’t have this resource just gather some space books from the library)
• Note cards with each event written on it.

Resource Students – Modify the page to do only the information side if you choose to do the effect side of the page.  Make sure they get one of the historical events that is at their reading level and easy to understand.

SEI – Have the SEI teacher assist the student with reading and writing.  Use Blowfish.com to translate the information back to the student’s native language.  Make sure the student has one of the less complex historical events.  Supply pictures that explain what the event is.

Gifted – Students can draw their own pictures, Extend their research to include more about the event then what is given on www.scholastic.com.  Let the gifted students research the topics that aren’t included on the scholastic timeline. (ex. Galileo, Copernicus, The first Rocket, Tiros 1 – the first weather satellite, 1st Israeli in space - Columbia Tragedy, Opportunity and Spirit Mars rovers, and any other firsts that you can think of.)

Procedures

1. Read or show the students a big book from your school library.
2. Explain that they are going to be creating a class space history big book.  We give the book to the second graders who are also studying basic astronomy to read.
3. Draw on the white board or show the students an example of what they will be creating.  (I have them use a piece of poster board (or a bit smaller), they must put a title at the top that is about 3 inches tall.  The front of the page must include a paragraph about the event telling the basic who, what, where, and why, and pictures of the people, event, or mission patch.  The back of the page will be the effect that that first in space had on the world, the United States, or NASA.)
4. Explain to the students that NASA is always researching new ways to travel and finding new data to collect and that every year new space firsts are added to the list.
5. Pull up the scholastic site and show them the Sputnik information and explain that this is where we will start.  (If you are having the students add to the timeline they may be starting at an earlier event.)
6. Next, tell them that the book will conclude with the most recent space first which is Spirit and Opportunity rovers on Mars.  (Depending on the year you are presenting and completing the project that first may be different.)
7. Explain that each student will be given a topic of research and that will be the page that they will create.  (I researched the topics that are not included on the scholastic site and put them as links on my class web page (www.amphi.com/teachers/sgilbertson).  If you don’t have a class web page you could print out the sites for the students to use.)
8. Pass out the criteria rubric and talk through the expectations of their big book page.
9. Write out the events on note cards and either pass them out or let the students choose.)  I had the students randomly pick from a box so they couldn’t see what they were getting and then gave them 30 seconds to trade with a neighbor if they wanted.)
10. Once the students have their topic and understand what the goal is - go to the computer lab and research their designated topic.
11. The research took the students approximately 30-45 minutes depending if the research further on www.space.com or www.nasa.org (I only let them go to those two additional sites.)
12. Once they had all the information, they were ready to write their paragraph.  (I have the students write it out on paper and then they had to have a peer edit them.  Then they are ready to type the paragraph to put onto the page.)  Printing the page landscape and using font 28 works well depending on the length of the paragraph.
13. Lastly, the students are ready to print or draw pictures as well as design and color their page.  This took quite a long time – approximately one hour.
14. When the students have completed their pages have them present the page to the class in order from Sputnik to Opportunity and Spirit.  Keep a timeline on the board of all the events that were covered.  We had a good discussion with each event on the effects that it had on the world, the United States and on NASA.
15. After each student presented their page have them turn in the page to put them all together into the book.
16. When a group of students finished early have them create the cover and back to the book as an extension.
17. Bind the book with silver binder rings from the local craft store.

The assesment is done through a rubric.

Teacher Name: Susie Gilbertson
Site: Harelson Elementary
Date Submitted: January 5, 2004