Astronaut Academy

Inquiry-Based Science Lessons for Advanced and Gifted Students in Grades 2-3

Jason S. McIntosh

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000489767
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Didattica
• Subtopic: Didattica della scienza e della tecnologia

Recipient of the 2020 NAGC Curriculum Award

The word "astronaut" comes from the Greek words meaning "star sailor, " and that is exactly what students will become in Astronaut Academy. This 30-lesson interdisciplinary science unit:

• Is designed to teach high-ability second and third graders how to think like real-world astronauts.
• Requires students to explore the far regions of the solar system.
• Was designed using the research-based Integrated Curriculum Model.
• Features challenging problem-based learning tasks and engaging resources.
• Includes detailed teacher instructions and suggestions for differentiation.

In this unit, students study the concept of exploration, journey to each planet, and create their own space station, all while acquiring scientific knowledge and habits, including how to follow the scientific method and properly conduct research and experiments. Suggestions and guidance are included on how teachers can adjust the rigor of learning tasks based on students' interests and needs.

Grades 2-3

LESSON 1
Exploring Exploration

DOI: 10.4324/9781003233145-2

Objectives

• ▶ Students will complete a preassessment.
• ▶ Students will be introduced to the concept of exploration.

Materials

• ▶ Handout 1.1: Space Alien Glyph
• ▶ Handout 1.2: Pretest
• ▶ Handout 1.2: Pretest Answer Key
• ▶ Crayons
• ▶ Student journals (blank notebook for each student)

Assessments

• ▶ Preassessment
• ▶ Journal prompt

Procedures

1. Greet students as they arrive.
2. Conduct the following warm-up activity. Distribute Handout 1.1: Space Alien Glyph and crayons to each student. Ask students to listen carefully and follow the directions:
   • ▶ Write your name under the spaceship in green crayon if your hair touches your shoulders or in purple crayon if it does not.
   • ▶ If you have brothers or sisters, color the star in the sky orange. If not, color the star red.
   • ▶ Add additional stars to the sky, one for each year you are old.
   • ▶ If you have a pet, color the spaceship blue. If not, color it yellow.
   • ▶ If you prefer math class over science class, color the surface of the planet brown and yellow. If you prefer science class over math class, color the surface of the planet gray and pink.
   • ▶ If your birthday is in January through June, draw two moons in the sky. If your birthday is in July through December, draw one moon in the sky.
   • ▶ If your favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate, put a smile on the face of the alien. If your favorite ice cream flavor is vanilla, put a frown on the alien’s face.
   • ▶ If you play on a sports team or are a member of a club, draw a second alien. If you are not, add two more antennae to the alien already on the page.
   • ▶ If you know what you want to be when you grow up, add a comet to the sky. If you do not, draw a rainbow.
3. Give students a few minutes to walk around and find the person whose picture looks the most like their own. Next, ask students to find the person who has the picture that is the most different from their own.
4. Introduce the title of the unit (i.e., Astronaut Academy) and ask students to predict what they think they will be learning and doing during the unit.
5. Explain to students that, as the teacher, you need to determine what they already know about astronauts and the solar system before beginning the unit. Distribute Handout 1.2: Pretest and emphasize the fact that it will not be recorded as a grade. The test will only be used to help the teacher differentiate based on students’ needs.
6. Give students time to complete the pretest. Collect and score before the next class period (see Handout 1.2: Pretest Answer Key). Place in a safe place until the end of the unit.
7. Ask students to think for a moment about a time in their lives when they encountered something or travelled somewhere new and foreign to them. How did this make them feel?
8. Ask volunteers to share the personal definition of exploration that they wrote down on the pretest. Compare responses and point out any commonalities between definitions. Come to a consensus on a class definition.
9. Generate a list of enduring understandings or generalizations about exploration, such as:
   • ▶ Exploration is how we learn about unfamiliar things.
   • ▶ Exploration takes courage and curiosity.
   • ▶ Exploration happens for different reasons.
   • ▶ Exploration can take place alone or in a group.
   • ▶ All living things explore their environment.
10. Challenge students to give examples for each of the generalizations (e.g., All living things explore their environment = Puppies begin to crawl around even before their eyes are open).
11. Journal prompt: Give each student a blank notebook to use as a journal. Ask students to complete the following journal prompt: If you could explore anywhere in the world, where would it be?

TEACHER'S NOTE

Before the next lesson, assess students’ pretests and journal prompts to determine the degree to which students are familiar with the concept of exploration and other important concepts related to our solar system. Adjust the rigor of each lesson going forward based on the students’ background knowledge revealed in this assessment.

Name: _______________________________________________ Date: _____________________

HANDOUT 1.1 Space Alien Glyph

Directions: Listen carefully to your teacher’s instructions.

Name: _______________________________________________ Date: _____________________

HANDOUT 1.2 Pretest

Directions: Please answer the questions on this test to the best of your ability.

1. What does the word exploration mean to you?
2. List three things astronauts do.
3. What does it take to become an astronaut?
4. How would life be different living on a space station as compared to Earth?
5. Draw a picture of our solar system in the box.

• 6. Which planet is the hottest?
• 7. Which planet is the largest?
• 8. Which planet rotates on its side?
• 9. What are the four forces of flight?
• 10. If the sun were the size of a beach ball, about how large would the Earth be?
• 11. What would you most like to learn about the solar system?
• 12. Number the steps in the scientific method in order (1 = first step, 2 = second, etc.).
  • ______ Experiment
  • ______ Conclusion
  • ______ Hypothesis
  • ______ Problem
  • ______ Observation
• 13. If you could ask an astronaut one question, what would it be?
• 14. What did the Hubble Space Telescope see on your birthday?
• 15. True or false?
  • ______ The same side of the moon always faces the Earth.
  • ______ The word astronaut means planet sailor.
  • ______ Only the United States has a space program.
  • ______ The Earth is 93,000,000 miles from the sun.
  • ______ NASA stands for the National Air and Space Academy.

Name: _______________________________________________ Date: _____________________

HANDOUT 1.2 Pretest Answer Key

Directions: Please answer the questions on this test to the best of your ability.

1. 1 Answers will vary.
2. Answers will vary.
3. You must be a U.S. citizen, hold a master's degree in a STEM field, and serve as pilot in command for 1,000 hours on a jet.
4. Examples include microgravity, must recycle all water, etc.
5. Answers will vary.
6. Venus.
7. Jupiter.
8. Uranus.
9. Thrust, friction, lift, and gravity.
10. Large marble (or anything about that size).
11. Answers will vary.
12. The correct sequence is as follows:
    • 3 Experiment
    • 5 Conclusion
    • 2 Hypothesis
    • 1 Problem
    • 4 Observation
13. Answers will vary.
14. Answers will vary.
15. The correct answers are as follows:
    • T The same side of the moon always faces the Earth
    • F The word astronaut means planet sailor.
    • F Only the United States has a space program.
    • T The Earth is 93,000,000 miles from the sun.
    • F NASA stands for the National Air and Space Academy.

LESSON 2
If an Astronaut Were a Firefighter

DOI: 10.4324/9781003233145-3

Objectives

• ▶ Students will develop a working definition of a scientist.
• ▶ Students will create metaphors relating astronauts to other professions.

Materials

• ▶ Drawing paper
• ▶ Student journals

Assessment

• ▶ Journal prompt

Procedures

1. Review with students the class definition of exploration and the associated enduring understandings generated during the previous lesson.
2. Read the following excerpt from “Little Gidding” by T. S. Eliot (1942), and ask students what they think it means:
   We shall not cease from exploration
   And the end of all our exploring
   Will be to arrive where we started
   And know the place for the first time.
3. Explain to students that one group of people who explore for a living are scientists. Ask students to talk with a partner about what a scientist is and does. Provide an opportunity for volunteers to share their thoughts with the class.
4. Define a scie...