Independent
Site Visits 11th Grade:
==================================================
NASA Teacher Resource Center @ City College of New
York
Grade
Level: 11 and 12
Learning
Standard: Science Standard 3
& 16
Time
Requirements: Approximately 1-hour
preparation time and 3 hours class time
Topics
Covered by this Lesson: The NASA
Program, NASA’s budget and the attitudes of most people across the
decades
Pre-Visit:
Purpose:
students research the history and
accomplishments of the American Space Program.
Objectives:
Students will:
§
Analyze how
emotions and enthusiasm might affect funding of scientific programs.
§
Summarize the
history of NASA’s programs during a specific decade.
§
Describe
contribution NASA programs have made to space, exploration, and research,
medicine, and technology.
Materials
Required: student journal,
pens/pencils, material for creating presentation (poster board, markers, etc)
encyclopedia and Internet (optional)
Student
Learning Prerequisites:
Vocabulary:
NASA, solar system, weightlessness, satellite, astronaut, zero gravity, space
race, technology, capsule
Research:
Divide students into small groups assigning each group a decade, 60’s,
70’s, 80’s, or 90’s.
Explain that each group will use books, encyclopedia, internet, and
other resources to learn about NASA’s programs in the assigned
decade. Students work together in
class and as homework to create a presentation that responds to the following
questions:
§
What was happening
to the U.S. during this decade?
Was the U.S. involved in or affected by war at this time?
§
What was the
economic climate in the U.S. during this decade?
§
How did most people
feel about NASA and its programs during this decade? Why do you think they felt that way?
§
Did NASA’s
budget increase or decrease in this decade? What forces affected NASA’s funding during this time?
What
have we learned through NASA’s programs in this decade about the
following topics:
§
Earth
§
Our solar system
§
The universe
§
Physics
§
Space exploration
NASA
is responsible for discoveries in fields other than space exploration. What contributions have NASA made in
the following areas:
§
Health/medicine
§
Technology
§
Inventions
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