Space Sojourn

Welcome to "Outer Space", where "Planets", "Stars", the "Sun", the "Moon", and the "Asteroid Belts" harmonize to create the "Solar System.

In this Webquest, students will learn about "Importance of Space Exploration", "Canadian’s Contribution to Space Exploration", "How do Humans/Astronauts Adapt to Space Travel?", "Main Components of the Solar System", "Bodies in Space that Emit and Reflect Light", and the "Motions/Positions of the Earth, Sun and Moon (and effects of these positions)".

We hope that today the you will be interested in the topic, will find the activities exciting, and will learn a lot about "Space"!

The Mission: 

You are an "Astronaut" that needs to learn about "Space" so that you can have a successful trip to "Outer Space". To prepare for your journey, you will be going through three courses. The "First Course" is to face a game of "Jeopardy" against your "Astronaut Team".The "Second Team" is to make a  "Space Video" about "Space Motions and Positions". The "Third Course" is to create a "Presentation" about the "Solar Systems".

 We hope that you pass all three courses and reach to "Outer Space" successfully!

Activity 1:

In your 1st course you will learn about “Importance of Space Exploration”, “Canada's Contribution to Space Exploration”, “How do Humans/Astronauts Adapt to Space Travel?”, and “Bodies in Space that Emit and Reflect Light”. To learn all of these topics, you will be playing a exciting game called “Jeopardy”. This game will have to be play with your “Astronaut Team” (your group), as one of you will have to be the host of the game and the others are the contestants.

Here are Links that will Help you Win the Game:

https://www.nasa.gov/hrp/bodyinspace- Space Exploration

https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/whyweexplore/why_we_explore_main.html#.Wld631Q-fq0 - Importance of Space Exploration

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpBNBbKkmS4 -Reflection (Moon)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGhqDqs6s8Q- Reflection (Moon)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB14HiOV2kU-Day in Life of an Astronaut

Step 1: As a group, decide a host and contestants to play the game. The contestants are able to take a look at the websites and video that are given. Set up the "Jeopardy Board" on a screen so that everyone can see. The contestants should have a type of device (laptop, Ipad, etc.) out for there research and the host should stand beside the screen.

Step 2: The contestants would take turns choosing a question from the "Jeopardy Board". The host would recite the question, tell the amount of points the question is worth, and the category it is in.

Step 3: The contestant will have a minute to answer the question, as they can use the websites that are given, do additional research, or remember what they read or watched when they were given time before the game started. At the end of one minute, the contestant should have a answer ready, if they get it write they will earn the points and if they don't they will lose that many points (it can go in negatives).

Step 4: At the end, the contestant with most points will win "Jeopardy". Good Luck!

Here is the link to "Jeopardy":

https://jeopardylabs.com/play/jeopardyspace-sojourn  

Activity 2: 

In your 2nd course, you will learn "How the Positions and Motions of Parts of Our Solar System Affect Us?". You will make a video about this topic. For each affect that you find, you have to write at least one paragraph explaining it in detail. Once you are done writing each paragraph, make sure you extract all the info out of it and put it into a video in a shortened form. Your video can have any content as long as it thoroughly explains the topic. To keep your video interesting and appealing to the audience, make sure to include images that match your information.

Here are Links that will Help you with your Research:

http://earthsky.org/earth/tides-and-the-pull-of-the-moon-and-sun - Tides

https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-is-an-eclipse-58  - Solar                                                                                                                                                          Eclipses

https://www.space.com/33786-lunar-eclipse-guide.html - Lunar Eclipse

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/seasons/en/ - Seasons of Earth

https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/aboutmoonphases.html - The Phases of The Moon

Step 1- First, create a document that you could put all your research in. It can be any type of s=document as long as it serves the purpose and you are able to show it to your teacher.  After that, research "How the Positions and Motions of Parts of our Solar System Affect the Earth" and "The Parts of our Solar System". You may use the provided links to help you with your research. Write one paragraph per topic.

Step 2- Extract that info and put it in a video. Your video should have audio of you explaining your audience about your topic. 

Step 3- Present your the video to the class/ group, just made if possible.

Activity 3:

In your 3rd course, you will create a final presentation. In this small step for man (punny, right?) you will learn about the "Main Components of the Solar System" by creating a model of it. After you make the model, write a small paragraph (at least 5 sentences) about each of the planets (1 paragraph per planet).

Here are Links that will Help you with your Research:

https://inews.co.uk/news/long-reads/planets-really-look-like/ - What do the planets look like?

http://www.theplanetstoday.com/solar_system_map.html - Where are the planets positioned?

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/all-about-mercury/en/ - Mercury

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/all-about-venus/en/ - Venus

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/all-about-earth/en/ - Earth

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/all-about-mars/en/ - Mars

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/all-about-jupiter/en/ - Jupiter

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/all-about-saturn/en/ - Saturn

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/all-about-uranus/en/ - Uranus

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/all-about-neptune/en/ - Neptune

https://space-facts.com/the-sun/ - Sun

Step 1- Accessing Resources: You will need 2 small foam balls, 5 medium foam balls, 1 large foam ball, and 1 even larger foam ball. The two small ones will pose as Mercury and Mars, the 4 medium balls will pose as Venus, Earth, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, and the large ball as Jupiter. The largest ball will be the sun. You will also need toothpicks and skewers to put the balls together. All of these things can be found at a dollar store.

Step 2- Putting it Together: If you want, you could paint your foam balls before this process, but that step isn't necessary. Research where all of the planets are in orbit and use this information to skewer the planets and put them in the correct order. You may use the provided links to help you with your research. If possible, put some clay on the bottom of a skewer and attach the part without clay to the sun, stick the part with clay to the lid of a Chinese takeout container or something similar. 

Step 3- Paragraphs: Write a paragraph about each of the planets, including the sun. In your paragraphs, explain "Why Each Planet is Important", the "Climate", and "The Moons".

Step 4- Presenting: After you write your paragraphs, present them, along with your model, to your class/group if possible.

 Yay! You passed all three courses, we are proud of you! You are officially an "Astronaut". The "Universe" is a massive place, but we still have so much to learn on the internet about it. On this amazing WebQuest through space you just learned so much. You learned "Importance of Space Exploration", "Canadian’s Contribution to Space Exploration", "How do Humans/Astronauts Adapt to Space Travel?", "Main Components of the Solar System", "Bodies in Space that Emit and Reflect Light", and the "Motions/Positions of the Earth, Sun and Moon (and effects of these positions)". We bet that you might be able to go to space one day, since you have passed all of the courses! See you in SPACE!