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Tasks: International Cooperation in Space – the International Space Station

Understanding the text:

Talk about the questions.

  1. Why was the International Space Station nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize?

  2. What is the purpose of the International Space Station?

  3. The international space station only functions if the participating nations are able to cooperate. Give at least one example of this.

  4. Space exploration is very expensive. Is this a good use of public money?

  5. Have you heard of people or companies that are involved in private space travel?

Discuss:

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?

Research:

Choose one of the tasks. Present your findings in a group.

  1. 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 website

  2. Study 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 website

  3. The 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

Make a mnemonic:

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?

Prepare a lesson:

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.

Illustration: In the first picture, we see the sizes of Mercury, Mars, Venus, and Earth. The next picture starts with the earth and ends with Jupiter, the next starts with Jupiter, and so on. This way we get an impression of how large the largest stars we know of must be when we end up with VY Canis Majoris.
A comparison of the sizes of planets and stars. What do these images tell us? Govva: Dave Jarvis / CC BY-SA 4.0

Read:

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.

A Voyage to the Moon by George Tucker

The novel’s full title is A voyage to the Moon: with some account of the manners and customs, science and philosophy, of the people of Morosofia and other Lunarians.

Excerpt 1: The space ship

The machine in which we proposed to embark, was a copper vessel, that would have been an exact cube of six feet, if the corners and edges had not been rounded off. It had an opening large enough to receive our bodies, which was closed by double sliding pannels, with quilted cloth between them. When these were properly adjusted, the machine was perfectly air-tight, and strong enough, by means of iron bars running alternately inside and out, to resist the pressure of the atmosphere, when the machine should be exhausted of its air, as we took the precaution to prove by the aid of an air-pump. On the top of the copper chest and on the outside, we had as much of the lunar metal (which I shall henceforth call lunarium) as we found, by calculation and experiment, would overcome the weight of the machine, as well as its contents, and take us to the moon on the third day. As the air which the machine contained, would not be sufficient for our respiration more than about six hours, and the chief part of the space we were to pass through was a mere void, we provided ourselves with a sufficient supply, by condensing it in a small globular vessel, made partly of iron and partly of lunarium, to take off its weight.

Excerpt 2: After landing on the moon

The town of Alamatua seemed to contain about two thousand houses, and to be not quite as large as Albany. The houses were built of a soft shining stone, and they all had porticoes, piazzas, and verandas, suited to the tropical climate of Morosofia. The people were tall and thin, of a pale yellowish complexion; and their garments light, loose, and flowing, and not very different from those of the Turks. The lower order of people commonly wore but a single garment, which passed round the waist. One half the houses were under ground, partly to screen them from the continued action of the sun's rays, and partly on account of the earthquakes caused by volcanoes. The windows of their houses were different from any I had ever seen before. They consisted of openings in the wall, sloping so much upwards, that while they freely admitted the light and air, the sun was completely excluded: and although those who were within could readily see what was passing in the streets, they were concealed from the gaze of the curious. In their hot-houses, it was common to have mirrors in the ceilings, which at once reflected the street passengers to those who were on the floor, and enabled the ostentatious to display to the public eye the decorations of their tables, whenever they gave a sumptuous feast.

The inhabitants subsist chiefly on a vegetable diet; live about as long as they do on the earth, notwithstanding the great difference of climate, and other circumstances; and, in short, do not, in their manners, habits, or character, differ more from the inhabitants of our planet, than some of these differ from one another. Their government was anciently monarchical, but is now popular. Their code of laws is said to be very intricate. Their language, naturally soft and musical, has been yet further refined by the cultivation of letters. They have a variety of sects in religion, politics, and philosophy. The territory of Morosofia is about 150 miles square. This brief sketch must content the reader for the present. I refer those who are desirous of being more particularly informed, to the work which I propose to publish on lunar geography; and, in the mean time, some of the most striking peculiarities of this people, in opinions, manners, and customs, will be developed in this, which must be considered as my personal narrative.

Work with a partner and discuss the following questions:

  1. 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?

  2. 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?

  3. Based on what you know about space; is it likely that we will find life on planets in our solar system?

  4. Do you think alien life exists somewhere in the universe?

Write:

Choose one of the tasks and write a longer text.

  1. Write a short story in the science fiction genre.

  2. Write a short story set on the International Space Station.

  3. 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.

Drag and drop:

In this drag and drop task, you will find facts about the planets in our solar system– but which planet is each sentence about?

Listen:

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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