Picture above is one of the first things I saw when I walked into Space Center Houston. I was absolutely amazed and in that moment, I knew I was in the right place! I'm thinking of John F. Kennedy's famous speech in Rice Stadium at the University of Texas on September 12, 1962. If you're not familiar, these words gave life to the space program. They challenged the country and forever changed history. "We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too." I thought about these words as we finished our unit and I was grading their final projects. (I know I'm a space geek. I also dreamed about the James Webb Telescope the other night. ) At first, I was underwhelmed. To be completely honest, I was frustrated. I had designed a rubric and the projects were not scoring well. Several questions came to my mind. I wondered:
After pondering, I realized that I was expecting the work of high schoolers. I had envisioned a project that I had done my sophomore year of french class. I also needed to remember that my students didn't have experience with this type of project. I gave them a lot of choice and didn't provide any examples. So, I took a step back and revised the rubric. Every project wasn't stellar and some students didn't even complete a project, but learning took place. I learned that I need to provide examples, visuals and review expectations. I learned that the end of the year may have also not been the best time for this major project. I learned that I need to create more learning opportunities like this student centered project, so that they can show growth throughout the year and be able to produce a high-quality creation by the end of the year. I learned how the growth mindset can help you, regardless of age or job title. I did sneak in an assignment that I hadn't planned when mapping out the unit. I was inspired by our field trip to the Indianapolis Museum of Art and am trying to provide more art opportunities in my classroom. So, I asked students to create a new book cover for Hidden Figures, the Conrad's Class Edition. We looked at the covers for the hardcover and paperback. They had to include the title, author, edition and New York Times Bestseller. It had to be a full page design related to the book and include color. The rest was up to them! Ms. Shetterley, if you're looking for a new design, let my kiddos know! Check out these awesome examples:
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Another amazing experience at Space Center Houston was Rocket Park. This is the Saturn V rocket. I repeat...this is the SATURN V ROCKET. This took men to the moon!? Walking into this building blew me away and the engines weren't even on! To give you an idea of the size, if you can't tell from the panoramas, this rocket takes up an entire building. The small brown cone-shaped piece is the capsule. That's where the astronauts were. You can see it in the photo above. At the opposite end of the rocket is the engine. For good reason too.
Pictured above is the F-1 Engine, a cluster of five total engines. Each one weighs about 16,000 lbs and provides a thrust of 1.5 million lbs! In other words, a powerhouse! This rocket had a huge impact on the space program. Seeing this had a huge impact on me. I hope that the Hidden Figures unit had the same impact on my students. We finished reading the book, all 23 chapters! We did it! I'm so pleased with how it went. We wrapped up Friday with 2 summative assessments. 1) Comprehension test - Matching people and description - Multiple choice events and vocabulary - Fill in the blank 2)Written response test - Students could chose 2 questions to answer from a list. - Each question was related to a major topic or theme from the book. - Students had to answer using the RACE strategy. - Each answer is graded using a rubric. * RACE is an acronym and it's a great step-by-step way to answer questions with evidence from the text. I will focus a future blog post on this strategy alone.* Monday, students are turning in their 2 performance assessments. 1) Book Cover Re-design -> Conrad's Class Edition 2) Hidden Figures Project - The format was student choice. - They had to answer our unit's central questions in a creative way: What does it mean to be a Hidden Figure? How am I/can I be a hidden figure? Stay tuned for pictures of student's book covers and projects! Peace, Love and Space Exploration, - CAPCOM Conrad #HiddenFigures #SpaceCenterHouston #RocketPark #SaturnV #studentimpact My favorite tour at Space Center Houston was the NBL. What is the NBL you ask? No, I am not referring to the men's National Basketball League. Nor am I talking about football, despite the fact that the Super Bowl was played in Houston this year. It's the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory! Based on the name, some of you may have been able to figure out that it's a place where you don't sink or float. Where on Earth would you be able to do that and what does it have to do with space? Well, the short answer is a giant pool in Houston, Texas. Astronauts train here to prepare them for the microgravity environment they experience aboard the International Space Station. I also have to say that it is the COOLEST THING EVER!! Note: Check out my slideshow at the end of the post. I could spend a whole post dedicated to it and plan to in the future. What makes me say that besides my strong personal opinion on the subject? Well, it kept my class of fifth graders excited on a Friday morning in May. As any teacher knows, as summer approaches this task becomes more and more difficult. They were intrigued by the information I was able to share from the tour, asking questions, answering questions and demanding more pictures. I decided to share the images with my students because we just reached the point in Hidden Figures where the switch from NACA to NASA occurs. This switch changes the focus of the administration (and the book) from flight to space flight. I may have introduced it as the moment they had been waiting for. This is also the point that the movie focuses on, so my students who have seen it are more familiar with it. We have 7 chapters left in the book and we're learning something new every day. This past week, we discussed Brown v. Board of Education, Little Rock, Arkansas and Ruby Bridges. I love the multi-dimensional aspects of the book and the ability to incorporate so many subjects and topics with it. Flocabulary, Brainpop and Newsela have all been great resources to incorporate not only technology, but also multimedia. Next week's plan is to discuss The Cold War and it's impact on the Space Race and well as JFK's We Choose the Moon Speech. Students are beginning to work on their Performance Assessment, using creativity to prove that they can answer the two central questions: What does it mean to be a Hidden Figure? How am I/can I be a Hidden Figure? #HiddenFigures #SpaceCenterHou #JSC #NeutralBuoyancyLab #myyearinspace #tranquilitycrew #EDUExpeditionCrew |
AuthorApollo 13 fan. Educator. Lifelong Learner. Third generation Boilermaker. Space Exploration Enthusiast. Collaborator. Click Subscribe to stay updated!Archives
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