Introduction | Invitation | Exploration | Explanation | Take Action | Assessment
Introduction | Invitation | Exploration | Explanation | Take Action | Assessment
Grade: Middle School
Time Frame: 1-2 days
Objectives:
-Given a lesson on space travel, students will understand that the movies portrayal of time is inaccurate.
-Given an activity on space travel, students will use metric measurements for distances.
Materials:
The materials for this lesson are: TV, VCR, movies depicting space travel (Planet of the Apes/Star Wars, etc.), overhead, paper, pencil, activity sheet and answer key from:
Dorothy Diehl
P.O. Box 441
Mt. Angel, OR 97362-0041
(Free with a self addressed stamped envelope.)
Overview:
Most people have a very inaccurate notion of what real-life space travel among the planets or between star systems is like. There are two reasons for this. One, it is impossible to print an accurate scale model for distance of the solar system in a textbook. Even a classroom-sized model is ineffective because choosing a scale that allows Pluto to be at the opposite from the Sun, puts the inner planets almost on top of each other.
A scale of 1 A.U. = 15 inches requires a space of at least 50 feet. (At that scale, the size of the planets is microscopic and the diameter of the Sun is about 1/4 of a millimeter. Using the same scale for size and distance requires a space of about 3 miles between a barely visible scale model of Pluto at one end and a 32 inch diameter Sun at the other end.) At least a scale of 1 A.U. = 15 inches will fit inside a hallway or gymnasium and the inner planets will have a recognizable separation.
Constructing a scale model for distances to our closest neighboring stars requires a space as large as the contiguous United States. If you put our model solar system where Portland, Oregon is, then Alpha Centauri would be at Los Angeles, California, Sirius at Little Rock, Arkansas and Procyon at Miami, Florida.
The second reason people do not understand true space distances is because popular space and/or science fiction employs multiple warp drive or hyperspace in order to cross astronomical distances in a short enough time frame to contain a story plot.
To be a realistic space faring people we need some way to express the experience of traveling astronomical distances accurately in our own space-time.
**Overview adapted from: Dorthy Diehl's lesson plan on Interplanetary Distance and Travel Time.
Teacher: Movie Director
Students: Active Watcher
Methods: Open class with movie clips of space time travel. Ask the students if they think these movies depict the real amount of time it takes to travel through space.
Teacher: Activity Conductor
Students: Space Travel Problem Solver
Methods: The teacher uses a transparency of the activity sheet that tells the fable of Slimey's and Sunscout's travels with Key information left blank. The students follow on their own activity sheets and refer to what's on the overhead projector. When the group comes to missing information, the teacher guides the students through calculating the answer on scratch paper and then filling in the blank. When all the blanks are filled in, the table makes sense.
**Exploration adapted from: Dorthy Diehl's lesson plan on Interplanetary Distance and Travel Time.
Teacher: Facilitator
Students: Discusser
Methods: "The Travels of Slimey the Slug and Sunscout the Starship in an interactive fable increases knowledge. Students realize how long it takes to travel specific distances at different speeds by modeling and comparisons (Dorthy Diehl)." We will review the activity that was just completed, go over some of the overview facts listed above, and discuss why the movies portray space travel incorrectly.
Teacher: Observer
Students: Writer
Methods: Have the kids write down how they feel the movies portray time travel. They can then use these ides for their lesson on writing a persuasive paper where they take a stand on the issue of science in films. They will collect facts and keep a list of ideas for their paper which will be started during the next lesson and turned in at the end of the unit.
The assessment is not formal. I suggest looking at completion of activity and writing of ideas.
