Tasks: International Cooperation in Space – the International Space Station
Talk about the questions.
Why was the International Space Station nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize?
What is the purpose of the International Space Station?
The international space station only functions if the participating nations are able to cooperate. Give at least one example of this.
Space exploration is very expensive. Is this a good use of public money?
Have you heard of people or companies that are involved in private space travel?
Discuss in class.
Despite space travel, there are still people who believe the Earth is flat. Why do you think that is?
How would you prove to someone that the Earth is not flat?
Choose one of the tasks. Present your findings in a group.
Choose one research project conducted at the International Space Station. Explain the goal of the project and what has been discovered so far, and discuss what benefits the research may provide.
Link to information about ISS research on NASA's websiteStudy the history of the international space station, its contribution to international cooperation, and discuss whether it should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Link to information about the history of the International Space Station on ISS National Laboratory's websiteThe space race between the United States and the Soviet Union began after World War II. Find out more about the space race, and what was accomplished within space travel due to the competition between the two superpowers.
Link to article about the space race on History's website
A mnemonic is a tool that helps us remember certain facts or large amounts of information. Mnemonics can come in the form of a song, rhyme, acronym, image, phrase, or sentence.
The sentence 'my very educated mother just showed us nine planets' is a famous mnemonic for remembering the planets in our solar system and their distance from the sun. My = Mercurcy, very = Venus, educated = Earth, mother = Mars, just = Jupiter, showed = Saturn, nine = Neptune, planets = Pluto. (Mercury's orbit is closest to the sun, while Pluto's is farthest away).
However, in 2006 scientists at The International Astronomical Union downgraded Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet, so it is no longer listed when we name the planets in our solar system.
Can you make a new mnemonic that will help you remember the eight planets that we currently count as part of our solar system?
Work alone or with a partner.
You have been asked to explain talk to a class of primary school children about the planets and stars in the universe.
Use the comparison of the sizes of planets and stars as a starting point and prepare a short lesson. Remember to take your audience's age into consideration and think about the best way to get them to understand your subject matter.
Deliver your talk before a group of your classmates, who will act the part of the primary school pupils.
In the expandable box, you can read two excerpts from the novel A Voyage to the Moon by George Tucker. Written in 1827, it is one of the earliest examples of American science fiction.
Work with a partner and discuss the following questions:
Would the ship described in the first excerpt be able to transport two people to the Moon? What aspects of space travel has the author considered? What has he not considered?
In the second excerpt, the author imagines that there is life on the Moon. If there were life on the Moon, do you think it is realistic to think that it would be more or less identical to life on Earth?
Based on what you know about space; is it likely that we will find life on planets in our solar system?
Do you think alien life exists somewhere in the universe?
Choose one of the tasks and write a longer text.
Write a short story in the science fiction genre.
Write a short story set on the International Space Station.
Write a discussion text about whether the expense of space exploration is justified when there are so many important challenges that the money could help solve, for example climate change or poverty. Remember to include sources.
In this drag and drop task, you will find facts about the planets in our solar system– but which planet is each sentence about?
By following the link, you will find a podcast about how Russia's invasion of Ukraine has affected international cooperation in space. The podcast is ca. 40 minutes long.
Link to podcast on The Conversation's website
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