EDUCATOR’S INSTRUCTIONAL GUIDE

[Pages:52]National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Educational Product

Educators and Students

Grades 3-5

Exploring the Lunar Surface

EDUCATOR'S INSTRUCTIONAL GUIDE

Exploring the Lunar Surface

EDUCATOR'S INSTRUCTIONAL GUIDE

SpaceMath@NASA

1

Exploring the Lunar Surface

This book was created by SpaceMath@NASA so that younger students can explore the lunar surface through the many photographic resources that have been collected by NASA over the years.

Students should be encouraged to look at each photograph in detail and study the changing appearance of the moon as we move closer to its surface. They should be encouraged to ask many questions about the details and features that they see, and how to move from one picture to another as the scale of the images change. They may also make a game of this process along the lines of `I Spy'.

This book focuses on `scale and proportion' as mathematical topics. A number of hands-on activities are also provided to allow students to create and explore scale-models for spacecraft and lunar craters.

This resource is a product of

SpaceMath@NASA

() and was made possible through a grant

from the NASA, Science Mission Directorate, NNH10CC53C-EPO.

Author: Dr. Sten Odenwald - Astronomer National Institute of Aerospace and NASA/Goddard Spaceflight Center

Director of SpaceMath@NASA sten.f.odenwald@

Co-Author: Ms. Elaine Lewis ? Curriculum Developer ADNET Systems, Inc.

Project Lead - Formal Education Coordinator NASA Sun-Earth Day.

Director, Space Weather Action Center

SpaceMath@NASA

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Exploring the Lunar Surface

Table of Contents

Program Overview.............................................................................................................. 4 Student Learning Components ....................................................................................... 6 Modalities for Learning.................................................................................................... 6 Overarching Concepts .................................................................................................... 6 Instructional Objectives................................................................................................... 6 Next Generation State Standards Connections .............................................................. 7 Common Core State Standards (mathematics) .............................................................. 7 Video Resources:............................................................................................................ 8 5E Learning Cycle Lesson Plan ...................................................................................... 9

Lesson 1: Lunar Pre-assessment .................................................................................... 11 Lesson 2: The Edible LRO Spacecraft ............................................................................ 13 Lesson 3: Exploring Weightlessness ............................................................................... 18 Lesson 4: Rock Classification- Backyard Rocks!.............................................................. 19 Lesson 5: Craters-Moon Study Activity............................................................................ 21 Lesson 6: Lunar Math...................................................................................................... 23

Problem 1 ? Zooming in on the Moon ........................................................................... 24 Problem 2 - The Lunar Surface (Low Resolution) ........................................................ 37 Problem 3 - The Lunar Surface (Medium Resolution)............................................39 Problem 4 - The Lunar Surface (High Resolution) ........................................................ 41 Vocabulary......................................................................................................43 Data Sheets....................................................................................................45

Cover Page:

Between 1969 and 1972, NASA's Apollo astronauts journeyed to the Moon and walked upon its surface. They discovered, first hand, that the surface is covered in powdery gray dust that caused unforeseen problems for NASA astronauts. Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison "Jack" Schmitt took this picture of Eugene Cernan during their third and last walk on the lunar surface in December of 1972.

Notice how dirty Astronaut Eugene Cernan's white spacesuit became after only few hours of kicking up `Moon dust'. This dust is as fine as sifted flour, but is also as abrasive as sand. It can damage delicate instruments, and it will be a major environmental hazard for future lunar explorers.

SpaceMath@NASA

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Exploring the Lunar Surface

Program Overview

Our Moon has been admired for thousands of years, and because of this is one of the most familiar astronomical objects to children of all ages. Its cyclical phase changes from full Moon to new Moon and back over the course of 28 days, has been an important source of time-keeping for many different civilizations. The dramatic landings of Apollo astronauts on the Moon starting in 1969 have made the Moon an almost common-place extension of humanities 'neighborhood' in space - one to which we may return in the coming decades. The activities in this book are designed to give students in grades 3-5 an opportunity to discover our Moon- Earth's only natural satellite and use mathematical concepts to understand size and proportion. Note for the Teacher: There are two periods involved with the orbit of the Moon around the Earth. This often leads to some confusion, but can be easily understood. Let's investigate!

Sidereal Period versus Synodic Period Measuring the motion of the Moon around the Earth relative to the distant stars

leads us to what is called the sidereal period. The sidereal period is the time required for a celestial body within our solar system to complete one revolution with respect to the fixed stars ................
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