MoonQuest
              by Alice Allnutt, Virginia 

Goal of the Lesson

NASA is considering establishing a Moon Space Base in the year 2015.  Student teams will be researching information about the moon in order help NASA make the best decisions about where to place the Moon Base. Student teams will be accessing information required of sixth graders in the Virginia Standards of Learning  for Science.  Teams will create a Hyperstudio stack describing their research, including photos from the Internet, in order to share their new knowledge with other student teams so that the class can make its best recommendations to NASA.
Student Teams
Team l : Describe the relative size and distance between planets and moons
Team 2:  Describe the impact the sun has on the moon
Team 3: Describe the role of gravity on the moon
Team 4: Describe revolution and rotation related to the movement of the Earth & Moon 
Team 5: Describe the mechanics of day and night and moon phases
Team 6: Describe the relationship between the Earth's tilt and seasons, Moon seasons?
Team 7: Describe the Moon's role in Earth's tides
Team 8: Describe the history and technology of previous Moon exploration
Team 9: Describe the  effect meteors, asteroids and comets have on the Moon
Team 10:  Describe places on the moon that might be good locations for a moonbase
 

 Steps for Your Team

    l. Begin to investigate the information on the Internet about your Moon topic.  Use these live links.  As you are working, keep notes and information in your learning log.  As you find good digital photos, save them on your personal disk.  Keep bibliographic notes of your photos and information.

    NASA - an Internet site with new images and up-to-date space info

    MoonViewer -  looking at images of the moon from Earth

    Solar System Live - photos  and info on the planets and sun

       Our Solar System - photos and  info on the planets and sun, gravity

      Yahooligans Space Science and Oddities - many  space science sites

     Jet Propulsion Lab - info on technology, comets, space studies

    Lunar Prospector Program - lunar maps and info on moon exploration

    Moonlink - a new project describing the Nov 97 space probe that is going to the moon
    Students for The Exploration and Development of Space - space resources, search
    2.   You are now ready to begin creating your Hyperstudio stack which will 
    be used by your team to present their findings to the whole class.  To view 
    other Hyperstudio stacks created by students , go to the Hyperstudio Homepage
     and save a stack you would like to view. 
    Then open Hyperstudio on your computer and open the downloaded stack !
  1. 3. Create your Hyperstudio Stack about your Space Science Topic.  Use the Hyperstudio Guide that the teacher has provided for you.  You should have a title page with the title and your names, a table of contents page to help viewers to to different pages, three to seven space information pages about your topic, and a final page with bibliographic information.

    2. 4. Submit two to five questions to your teacher for the class exam about your Science topic, please put them in multiple choice format.

    5. Evaluate your Hyperstudio stack using the Space Science Hyperstudio Stack Evaluation Form

    6. Take the online exam by searching the student Moon Stacks on the server to find your answers

    7. Be ready to participate in the NASA Moonbase Forum about how and where to build the New MoonBase in the year 2015.


     

    Student Assessment of Moonquest

    l.  Student self-evaluation of  Hyperstudio stack on the Moon Topic
    2. Teacher observation of notetaking, asking research questions, collaborations
    3. Student-created exam on Moon  Information
    4. Student  oral participation in the MoonBase Forum

    Forms to be downloaded

    Stack Evaluation for Moonquest Project

    Student Name : ______________  Date:

    Project Title: ___________

    Use 5 as tops, 3 as average, and l as poor
    ___  Title page has title, authors, color, button to table of contents, a photo or drawing
    ___  Table of contents has 3 - 7 topics with buttons that work
    ___ Each information card has a photo and clear information
    __    Each information card is edited and spelled correctly
    ___ Each information card has a button to go back to the table of contents
    ___ Last card has  accurate bibliographic information

    Personal Comments about My Effectiveness with this Group Project:

    Notetaking Worksheet for MoonQuest

    Title of Science Investigation: _____________________________
    Student Name: ________________
    Question                Information Found on Internet or other            Bibliographic info
     
     
















    Form for Creating Test Questions for Moonquest Exam (mark the correct answer)

    Student Name:                                   Date:                 Topic:
    Science Question: ____________________________________________
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      b. ________________________________________
      c. ________________________________________
    Science Question: ____________________________________________
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    a. _______________________________________
      b. ________________________________________
      c. ________________________________________
    Science Question: ____________________________________________
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    a. _______________________________________
      b. ________________________________________
      c. ________________________________________

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