Blue Planet
SCIENCE ACTIVITY BOOKS
Earth at Hand: A Collection of Articles from NSTA's Journals
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Recommended grade level:
4-8+.
Destiny in Space contains 12 activities through which students explore sociological, biological, and technological challenges of living and working in space. For example, they examine reasons for exploring space, such as colonization, curiosity, or the search for life. They experience a sense of weightlessness by exercising with leg and arm weights. They explore how different senses help people keep their balance in earth's gravitational environment.
In other activities, students simulate the problems of communicating in space, and they role-play the programmer of a robot to get a sense of how instructions for a simple task might be sent to a robotic spacecraft. They consider the isolation astronauts might experience on long voyages, and they identify the functions performed by various parts of a space suit.
Each activity includes background information for the teacher, information on the preparation needed, step-by-step procedures, discussion questions, and extensions. The importance of making and recording careful observations is stressed.
The topic of each activity in the book is linked to real-world developments and to scenes in the National Air and Space Museum's IMAX film Destiny in Space. A list of teaching materials, books, films and videos, and other materials on space is provided. The guide lists more than 50 locations where Destiny in Space can be seen.
Price:
Free to educators in response to request on school letterhead.
Publisher/supplier:
National Air and Space Museum.
Materials:
Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.
