The families of the astronauts who died in the Challenger
disaster set up a memorial for their loved ones, they decided to create a
center where teachers could come to learn about space exploration and the
use of technology in education. The Astronauts Memorial Foundation built
classrooms at the Kennedy Space Center and offered programs designed to improve
science and technology education for teachers As a part of the
Instructional Technology Certificate program at Duquesne, Mrs. Ravenstahl
and Mrs. Huth attended classes at the Foundation
this summer and designed projects for each grade level that would share information
about space exploration and utilize a wide variety of technological techniques.
The projects are based on Standard 4 of International Society for Technology
Education - Students will use a variety of media and formats to
communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences.
Below is a list of the projects and media each grade level
will be developing:
Kindergarten - Look, Mom! I'm an Astronaut!
: Students will study the solar system and will paste a digital picture of
themselves into an astronaut suit template, and print and color their picture.
Grade 1 - My Favorite Planet: Students
will view the NASA video Solar System II, review drawing techniques
using Kid Pix software, and draw a picture of their favorite planet
using Kid Pix.
Grade 2 - Math Blast : After
a review of space, the students will be able to use the Kid Pix software
application and the stamping tools to show two sets of space objects
equaling ten or less.
Grade 3 - Earth Acrostics: Students
will use Internet sites to find an image of the earth to copy and paste into
a document and type an acrostic poem describing the earth.
Grade 4 - How is the Space Shuttle Prepared
for Flight? : Students will discover how a Space Shuttle is prepared
to fly its next mission by visiting the NASA web site and present this information
in a slide show using digital pictures taken at NASA.
Grade 5 - Race to the Moon Timeline:
Students will learn the steps America took to land a man on the moon in 1969
by researching NASA printed materials and Web site and present that information
in a timeline produced in MS Word.
Grade 6 - Star Seekers: Students will
identify the pioneers of flight who are depicted in the mural Star
Seekers by visiting designated Web sites and sharing this information
in a Power Point presentation.
Grade 7 - Why Do Astronauts Wear Space
Suits? : Students will discover why astronauts must wear space suits
on their missions in space and present this information in an iMovie.
Grade 8 - Tour the Kennedy Space Center:
Students will discover the facilities that are available at the
Kennedy Space Center and present this information by creating a virtual
tour on a Web page.
Great Web sites for Blasting
Off to Learning!! Space Suits
Pioneers and astronauts- Space wardrobe & Space suits http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/
Mrs. Huth completed
the Master's Degree in Instructional Technology at Duquesne under
the auspices of the Heinz Grant. In conjunction with this program, Mrs Huth
took classes at the Kennedy Space Center and is sharing what
she learned with the children in their classes and the teachers in
a series of six in-service workshops and after school individual tutorials.
We are all very grateful to Heinz for this wonderful opportunity to
enrich and accelerate our technology integration.
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