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Contents

• Introduction
• Kit Topics
• Objectives
• Vocabulary
• District Standards
• Assessment
• Acknowledgements

Introduction

Although many space concepts are too abstract for young minds to truly understand, this unit will expose students to a general overview of space concepts as required by the Colorado State Standards.  Many of the lessons in this unit are designed with a constructivist or inquiry-based approach where students are asked to look at their present ideas and understanding of space then build on this prior knowledge through exploration and discoveries.

Kit Topics

Lesson 1:  What's out there?

Lesson 2:  What is a planet?

Lesson 3:  What does a scale model of our solar system look like?

Lesson 4:  How big is our moon?

Lesson 5:  What is a crater?

Lesson 6:  When is day and night?

Lesson 7:  How long is one year?

Lesson 8:  What is the reason for the seasons?

Lesson 9:  Unit review.

Lesson 10:  What is a constellation?

Lesson 11:  What are the important moments in space history?

Lesson 12:  Review of material covered in space unit and final test.

Lesson 13:  How can a rocket be constructed out of a paper rocket and fueled by Alka Seltzer?

Objectives

Students are expected to:

• Create a drawing  which depicts objects in our solar system from own understanding.
• Investigate traits or characteristics of a planet and develop a definition of a planet.
• Experience the size of the solar system through a proportional scale model.
• Compare the size of our moon to Earth.  Review scale and proportion.
• Understand various aspects of craters.
• Observe how day and night occurs.
• Recognize that one revolution of Earth around the sun equals to 365 1/4 days.
• Gain an understanding of the concept of the seasons.
• Understand what a constellation is by identifying and simulating various constellations.
• Gain an overview of the history of space flight by developing a timeline.
• Experiment with the construction of a paper rocket fueled by Alka Seltzer.

Vocabulary

District Standards

The Space kit meets the following District Standards:

Science

Standard 1. Students understand the process of scientific investigation and design, conduct, communicate about, and evaluate such investigations. (1.b., 1.d.)

Standard 4. Students know the structure of the solar system, composition and interactions of object in the universe, and how space is explored. (4.4a - 4.4h)

Assessment

The Space kit contains a final test on the topics covered in the space unit.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks is extended to the members of the Academy School District Twenty Space Curriculum Committee for their dedication to the creation of the Exploring Space Curriculum.  Their research, piloting, and designing is responsible for the creation and development of this space unit.

This web page is maintained by Joan E. Grant.