Ever wonder why Russians use the term cosmonaut to refer to an astronaut? Well, part of the answer is in Greek. The Greek word nautes means sailor. The Greek word astron means star. The word kosmos means universe. So, cosmonaut means universe sailor and astronaut means star sailor. Now, you know! I included this in the glossary of the Mission Logbooks I made as for my space-themed class. I put together a variety of activities to teach 3-5th Grade students at Purdue’s Gifted Education Resource Institute (GERI) Super Fall Program. I’m sure this comes as no surprise when I say that my class was all about space. I also created a new word to describe my students, méllonaut. Méllo means future in Greek. So, my students were future sailors training for a future in space. After all, they are the Mars Generation! The rest of the day's activities were a combination from a variety of sources; NASA, Indianapolis Children's Museum Beyond Spaceship Earth PD and SEEC sessions. I separated the activities into phases: Preparation, Training for Space, Take Off, In Space and Returning to Earth. A great book to pair with the activities was Becoming a Spacewalker : My Journey to the Stars by: Astronaut and Boilermaker Jerry L. Ross . > Preparation First, each méllonaut created a mission patch to represent themselves and they put these in buttons that they could wear all day! > Training for Space Before making the journey through our solar system, you need to be aware of what it is. Our solar system is so large that it's difficult to really grasp the concept of size. For students to get a better idea, we used some hands-on activities. Using JPL's Solar System Bead Activity, méllonauts constructed a scaled model of the solar system. It's a great and unique way for kids to visualize how far away the planets are and how large our solar system is. Tips for using in your classroom: pre-cut the string, make sure you have a variety of bead colors. Based on the scale listed, each kid gets 5m of string. I would recommend decreasing the scale or having students attach the beads without using knots. Since we were at Purdue, families could take advantage of the awesome Voss model - an outdoor scaled model of the solar system - dedicated to Janice L. Voss, a Purdue alum and astronaut. they were able to record their observations in their mission logbook that I created. If you can't visit it in person, you can take a virtual tour! > Take Off Communication is a vital part of being successful on space missions and life in general. Students created structures out of legos. The structure was their choice, but they had to name, draw and label their structure. Then, they had to write a how-to-build my structure. This may have been the most difficult task of the day. I would recommend limited the amount of legos that can be used on the amount of time for building and writing. > In Space Being able to notice similarities and differences and make observations and predictions allows us to be ready for obstacles that may arise as well as prevent problems from occurring. Students did a mini-experiment by rehydrating bananas to experience the difference between eating on Earth and eating in space. Students recorded their before and after observations. We also watched some video clips of Former ISS Commander Chris Hadfield preparing a meal in space. The favorite activity of the day was the EVA! Méllonauts walked down the hallway with their regular shoes and built a tower out of ten blocks. Then, they completed the same activities with moon shoes! Both activities were timed to be able to compare and contrast. >Landing The final activity of the day was to build a lunar lander. Using the structure from SLED (Science Learning Through Engineering Design), students identified key components of their task and were able to test their structure and suggest modifications for future improvements. I'm constantly trying to share space information with others and was happy to be able to wear this shirt proudly on my honeymoon in Maui, Hawaii! I was so honored to be asked to share my Year in Space Experience with my alma mater. You can check it out! My Superintendent interviewed me about My Year in Space on our district podcast, Inside the Rock! I was episode 13 on December and my Genius Hour Session that week was titled, Houston, We Have a Problem. So, you bet I didn't miss that Apollo 13 connection! You can listen here! I've been MIA planning a wedding and getting married. Although my last name is changing, my call sign and enthusiasm for space in not! Stay tuned for a unit on an awesome new book, Lost in Outer Space - The Incredible Journey of Apollo 13 by: Todd Olson and an update on Genius Hour at my school!!
Peace, love and space exploration, -CAPCOM Conrad
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AuthorApollo 13 fan. Educator. Lifelong Learner. Third generation Boilermaker. Space Exploration Enthusiast. Collaborator. Click Subscribe to stay updated!Archives
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