Picture from: NASA Education
Department, PED-105/June 1994 Discovery Booklet from NASAINSYS 497E Designing Web-Enhanced Learning Environment Strategies for Science, Math, and Technology Educators of Native Americans
Go to annotated web site page Go to INSYS 497E Homepage
The lesson plans below have been created by K-12 teachers of Native American students. The lesson were created to fulfill graduate credit requirements for this course offered through the Instructional Systems Program at The Pennsylvania State University. WELES were developed through a joint venture between NASA Dryden Flight Research Center and the Instructional Systems Program at The Pennsylvania State University College of Education.
You can view your classmate's lessons by clicking on the lesson title next to their name or by scrolling through the page . . .
Lesson Plan: Water Cycle Created by: Paige Blake grades: K-4
(Generative Learning)
Time:
Three 45 minute science periodsLesson Purpose: The students will study water and learn about the water cycle using the Native American story called Water Story. They will explore on the World Wide Web with fifth grade buddies. Draw a water cycle, and act out the water cycle.
Lesson Objectives:
1. Students will be able to name the various forms of water and explain the water cycle after exploring from one to three sites on the WWW with a fifth grade buddy.
2. Students will be able to draw a model of the water cycle.
3. Students will read the story Water Story, from the Native American Reading Series, in pairs.
4. Each pair will share their favorite part of the story, stating what it tells about the water cycle.
Activity Content: Students will learn the various parts of the water cycle and know an example of each part.
Teacher Preparation:
Materials for Classroom:
National Standards:
Understands basic features of the Earth
Lesson Procedures:
Introduction: Day 1
Students are sitting in table groups of three or four. Have each group brainstorm everything they think of about the word "water". Have a spokesperson name the list to go on a large chart in the front of the room.
Procedures for the Classroom: Day 1 cont.
Discuss the chart as a group and then have students sit and listen as you read the story Water Story. Do a picture preview together before reading the story. Discuss the story as it is read to the students.
Have the students team up with their fifth grade buddies and explore the bookmarked sites on the WWW, with the following goals in mind: Find out what the water cycle is, find out how many forms water comes in, find and write down three fact about water found on the web.
Day 2
Have the students share information they found on the WWW with their buddies.
Next, draw the water cycle on a large piece of chart paper, as a class. Have various students come up to draw the pictures of the different parts of the water cycle, discuss the various forms of water.
Day 3
As a review, show the NASA water cycle overhead and discuss the various parts of the cycle. Turn off the overhead and have each student draw their own water cycle on large construction paper, encourage them to be creative as they draw their pictures for each stage of the cycle.
As students finish, have them take a copy of the book Water Story to read and quietly discuss with a partner who is also finished with their water cycle picture. Circulate through the room to listen to the various groups, help them figure out how their favorite part of the story relates to the water cycle.
When all groups are finished, the pairs will go up to the front of the room to explain their favorite part of the story and how it relates to the water cycle.
Follow-up Activities:
1. The students will have the opportunity to act out the water cycle. In groups of three each student will draw a part of the cycle out of a hat and act it out. Various students can talk about the water cycle and act it out for the whole class.
2. Do the demonstrating the water cycle activities on pages 13-15 of the NASA’s Our Mission to Planet Earth Guide to Teaching Earth System Science.
Vocabulary: cycles, moisture, precipitation, evaporation, water cycle
Web Sites:
Lesson Plan: Naya Nuki’s Journey Created by: Paige Blake grades: K-4
Lesson Summary: This set of four lessons is based around the story Naya Nuki Shoshoni Girl Who Ran by Kenneth Thomasma. Three or four chapters are read each day during story time. At the end of each of these reading times the following two things will be charted: Naya Nuki’s route on a map, and a list of navigational signs Naya Nuki uses to find her way home.
Activity Content: Students will learn about an eleven year old Shoshoni girl’s adventures, struggles, and survival means as she is captured by a rival tribe, and then escapes and travels back to her people. Her journey covers over a thousand miles, and more than a months time. Various topics from her journey will be focused on more extensively during the science period.
On the first day of the Naya Nuki study, a student journal can be handed out. The students can write "Naya Nuki Travel Journal" and decorate the cover. This can be used to record information learned during story time, science, and free time.
In Science we will study the following:
Lesson 2 of Naya Nuki: The Shoshoni Indian Tribe grades: K-4
(Collaborative Learning)
Time Required: Two 30 minute story time sessions and two 45 minute science class periods.
Lesson Objectives:
1. In pairs, with a fifth grade helper, the students will use the WWW to find out about the Shoshoni people. They will find out the ways the Shoshoni traveled, hunted and made shelters during Naya Nuki’s time.
2. Students will cooperate and make decisions together.
3. The pairs will make a chart together listing the ways the Shoshoni people traveled, hunted, and made shelters in the past, and the current ways.
Lesson Procedures:
Day 1
Have students briefly summarize the first four chapters of Naya Nuki as a class (On the Move, The Attack, The Long March East, and Slavery) that have been read during story time earlier in the day.
The prearranged pairs will go to the computer lab with their fifth grade helper to research about the Shoshoni people, using the bookmarked web sites. *See below. They will take turns recording their information in their journals.
Day 2
The second day, or when they have found the information they need, the students will return to the classroom and together decide how to make their chart of the information learned. (Two to three simple chart examples will be posted on the white board, and explained to each group) Walk around and monitor the pairs as they work.
After they have completed their charts, and as they wait for other pairs to complete the assignment, students can do one of the following: Read one of the books on the Shoshoni in our reading area or at a desk, or write about and draw a picture of some aspect of Shoshoni life in student journals.
When all student pairs have their charts complete, they will present their finding to the class.
We will discuss the information learned and compare and contrast the past ways to the present.
Teacher Preparation:
Materials and Resources:
Follow-up Activities:
1.Find information about each students ancestors (tribes) from early times. Compare the information with that learned about the Shoshoni.
Web Sites:
Lesson 3 of Naya Nuki: A Study of Weather Created by: Paige Blake grades: K-4
(Expository Presentation)
Time Required: Two 30 minute story time sessions and two 45 minute science class periods.
Lesson Objectives:
1. Students will be able to name one type of weather that helped Naya Nuki and one type that hindered her during her journey.
2. On a large sheet of construction paper, divided into four sections, students will draw, and color four scenes showing four types of weather.
Lesson Procedures:
Day 1
Discuss the four chapters read in Naya Nuki (A Night to Run, Danger at Night, Always Alert, and Burial Platform)
Ask the students to tell the types of weather Naya Nuki had encountered in the book so far. On white board write the three categories: helpful weather, harmful weather, and neutral weather (define the word ‘neutral’)
Tell the class you will be using some web sites to find out more information about weather together. Have the class grab their journals and a pencil and sit in chairs and on the floor around the classroom computer. Locate the bookmarked web sites and have students write down five weather facts as you give them information from the web sites. Find the four day forecast for your area.
Give students a large sheet of construction paper. Have them fold it in half twice and open up to find four equal boxes. Tell students to draw pictures showing four types of weather. After they have drawn their pictures, they can use glue to add texture to their scenes.
Day 2
The next day, pass out a piece of paper to each student and have them write about the type of weather that helped Naya Nuki and the type that harmed her during her journey. When the students have completed this assignment and turned it in, they can get their dried glue picture and color and use chalk to color each area appropriately.
Teacher Preparation:
Materials and Resources:
Follow-up Activities:
1. Have students ask parents and grandparents ways they know to predict the weather without reading the paper or listening to the news.
Web Sites:
Lesson 4 of Naya Nuki: The Grizzly Bear Created by: Paige Blake grades: K-4
(Problem Based Learning)
Time Required: Two 30 minute story time sessions and two 45 minute science class periods. Five or ten minutes for three days to learn a bear fact. 15 minutes scheduled with the kindergarten teacher for a presentation.
Lesson Objectives:
- Students will find five facts on the WWW about bears.h
- Students will work together cooperatively to solve their bear problem.
- Students will share their bear information with a kindergarten class. Each student sharing one fact.
Lesson Procedures:
Day 1
Review chapters 9 through 12 ( Inches from Death, Food and Hides, The End?, and Moving West Again) Discuss Naya Nuki’s scary experience with the grizzly bear.
Divide the students into groups of four (plus a fifth grade helper). Read the five grizzly bear problems to the group (each typed on a strip of paper). Place each paper strip in a hat and have one student from each group pick out a problem. Have groups go to the computer lab and reread their problem. With help from the fifth grader, students will research bears, each writing down five facts about bears. They will be trying to find solutions to the problem their group has. (I would recommend preparing the fifth grade students ahead of time so they can assist their group and guide them toward a solution.)
During this time the teacher needs to spend time with each group and give them guidance in their problem solving.
When groups get finished, they can return to the classroom and read books about bears in the reading area, or write and draw in their journals.
Day 2
The second day, when all groups are finished, have the groups share their problem with the class, and their solutions. Discuss each problem and solution and share other solutions students from other groups provide.
Have each student pick a bear fact. Type each fact and cut the strips and distribute to the students. Have students learn their fact the next few days, lining up and practicing without strips of paper.
During free time, each student can draw bear pictures to give to a student in the kindergarten class.
Set up a time (10-15) minutes with the kindergarten teacher to have students come and share bear facts with the kindergartners. When the class enters the kindergarten class, explain to the younger children what the 2nd graders have been studying. Have each student tell their fact and show their picture. As the students leave they can give their picture to one of the kindergartners.
Teacher Preparation:
***(These are all problems that could happen here in Montana, close to where we live)***
Materials and Resources:
Follow-up Activities:
Learn more about other animals Naya Nuki encountered during her trip, like wolves or buffalo. You could use the following web site: http://animal.discovery.com/animal.html
Web Sites:
Lesson 5 of Naya Nuki: Native American Stories Created by: Paige Blake grades: K-4
(Expository Presentation)
Time Required: Two 30 minute story time sessions and one science class period.
Lesson Objectives:
- To have students learn to appreciate Native American stories about nature and how important they were in Naya Nuki’s time.
- To respectfully listen as elders come into our classroom to tell stories.
- In groups of three, with a fifth grade buddy, the students will find a Native American story on the WWW and draw pictures to go along with it.
- Students will be able to tell their favorite part of Naya Nuki and tell why they like it.
Lesson Procedures:
Day 1
Finish reading Naya Nuki (Chapters 13-15, Mountains!, Stopped, and A Day to Remember). Discuss how Naya Nuki was helped by remembering a story told to her by the elders of her tribe.
***If guests have been scheduled to come in to tell a story, schedule them for this day or the next few days.***
Have students go to the computer lab with their groups and fifth grade buddy and look for Native American stories on the WWW. Have the buddy read several stories to the students.
Have the students pick their favorite story and draw some scenes from the story, putting the title and author on the picture.
Day 2
Read the Epilogue to the book Naya Nuki to the students. Discuss the book and have students tell their favorite parts of the story either orally or written.
Teacher Preparation:
Materials and Resources:
Web Sites:
Lesson Plan: Transportation - Then and Now Created by: Paige Blake grades: K-4
(Collaborative Learning)
Time Required: Four days, 45 minute periods
Lesson Objectives:
Lesson Summary: The students will explore various types of transportation from the past, present, and future on the WWW and in books. They will create various crafts used now, and in the past and those that may be used in the future.
Introduction: Day 1
Ask the students what the word "transportation" means. Make a web on a large piece of butcher paper with the ideas the students give. Start with ways the students have traveled and move on to ways they would like to travel, ways they think their grandparents traveled, ways they think their grandchildren will travel.
Lesson Procedures:
Day 1 cont.
Have pairs of students go to the computer lab with their fifth grade buddy. Look for pictures of transportation from the past, present, and future. Print out appropriate pictures to use in the future.
Day 2
Have the students cut out the pictures they found on the WWW and then look through magazines to find other pictures of transportation used in the past, present, or possibly future. After the students have each cut out a few pictures, tape the pictures on the timeline on the wall. It will have three sections ‘past, present, and future’ Have the students come up and tape their pictures on the timeline where they think they should go. Discuss what has been found (most pictures are from the present) Ask for some volunteers look for some pictures of modes of transportation from the past in the Native American resources from the library. Have those students draw and color their picture to add to the timeline. Other students can look through the NASA materials to get ideas for future forms of transportation. These can be drawn and colored, and added to the timeline. The new additions to the timeline can be admired and discussed.
Day 2
The Past: Read some stories from the Indian Reading Series or other sources that include various forms of transportation used in the past. In groups of three, the students will build a model of their favorite type of transportation from the
past. Using clay, rocks leaves, twigs, etc. When the students are done, have a sharing circle with each student telling about their creation. The projects will be displayed in the classroom.
Day 3
The Present: Read some nonfiction stories from the library about cars, trucks, planes, boats, trains bikes, etc. Discuss the way the students have traveled. Have the students make their favorite form of transportation used today in their groups. They can use construction paper, tissue paper, toilet paper rolls, cardboard, etc. After the projects are completed, have another sharing circle and then display the finished products in the classroom.
Day 4
The Future Find some science fiction books, or excerpts to read to the students to give the students ideas, or show pictures from the NASA resources, etc. to give the students ideas. Have the students make a craft of some sort
that could be used in the future. The students can use foil, colored poster board, wire, tin cans, colored plastic wrap, etc. Again, when the projects are complete, have the students share, and then display in the room.
Teacher Preparation:
Student Preparation:
Materials for Classroom:
National Standards:
Understands the nature of scientific inquiry.
Follow-up Activities: As a follow-up activity, the students could invite a kindergarten or first grade class to share their projects and tell about what they have learned.
Vocabulary: transportation, canoe, spacecraft, automobile, airplane
Evaluation Suggestions: Have students write about each of the three periods of transportation, include pictures.
Web Sites:
Lesson Plan: Aviation and Native American History Created by: Mary Larson grades: K-4
(Expository Presentation - Telling)
Time Required: Four days, 45 minute periods
Activity Content: Mapping, time lines, history (Aviation, Native American)
Standards Addressed:
Math Standards:
Mathematics as communication
1. Relate physical materials, pictures, and diagrams to mathematical ideas;
2. Realize that representing, discussing, reading, writing, and listening to mathematics are a vital part of learning and using mathematics.
3. Use models, known facts, properties, and relationships to explain their thinking;
4. Develop the process of measuring and concepts related to units of measurement;
5. Collect, organize, and describe data;
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Science Standards:
1. Knows that learning can come from careful observations and simple experiments.
2. Understands that in science it is helpful to work with a team and share findings with others.
3. Knows that although men and women doing scientific inquiry have learned much about objects, events, and phenomena in nature, there is still much to be understood
4. Knows that some objects occur in nature, whereas others have been designed and made by people to solve human problems.
5. Knows that people have always had problems and invented tools and techniques (ways of doing something) to solve problems; trying to determine the effects of various solutions helps people avoid some new problems.
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Teacher Preparation: Find biographies of Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. (see Bibliography) Post large map of the world. Write letters to parents. Post large time line on the wall to put up pictures and information. Call museums to set up field trips. Collect history pictures and information from your area and from your family. Line up a Native American Historian or story teller to come into the classroom to speak.
Student Preparation: Show students how to use bookmarks and the web. Let children explore on a few web sites.
Materials for Classroom: Biographies of Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. Bookmark Internet Sites. (See below)
Objectives:
1. The students will learn about Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart through reading biographies to them.
2. The students will learn to make time lines.
3. The students will be able to tell about Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart’s life in chronological order after developing a time line on the wall with pictures.
4. The students will be able to display pictures and written information on a large time line, posted on the wall. The display will feature some history of their own town or (reservation site) and of their own personal history, this being the same period of time that Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart made their amazing flights.
Introduction:
Assess: What is history? What do they know about Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart? What do they know about the history of their town? What do they know about their own family history?
Procedures for the Classroom:
Day 1: Read to children "Flight" by Robert Burleigh. (see Bibliography) It is a children’s book and can be read in 15 or 20 minutes. Discuss the story and have the children explain to each other what is going on. A map is a good idea to have close by for a graphic to show where Charles Lindbergh started and ended his flight. Show the children the time line on the wall and put a picture of Charles Lindbergh and his plane above the date he flew across the Atlantic.
Send parent letter home (see following letter)
Day 2: Read Amelia Earhart Biography. (See Bibliography) Use a map to show her famous flight. Put Pictures of Amelia Earhart and her plane on the time line above 1937.
Day 3: Introduce the bookmarks related to Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh. Ask older students or parents to come in and help children read through the information. Try to get as many children on the sites as possible. Start with the easier reading sites. (See Web Site information)
Day 4: Go to the City Museum and concentrate on the time of Charles Lindbergh’s life (1927) and Amelia Earhart’s life (1935). Ask older children or parents to go with you to the museum so that you can break into small groups. Show the children how to look for dates. Have parents or older children record information for the children and make copies of pictures.
(See letter below)
Day 5: Start displaying pictures on the time line starting with the history of the area and the children’s family history. Have a Native American Historian come in and tell stories of what life was like on the reservation at the time of Lindbergh and Earhart. Have the children illustrate the stories that the Native American Historian shared.
Day 6: Have one or two families come in and share stories of their personal family history with the children.
Facts and Concepts:
*Charles Lindbergh became the first person in the world to fly across the Atlantic Ocean on May 21,1927. He was 25 years old. *He flew from New York, New York to Paris, France.
- He covered 3,608 miles.
*Charles Lindbergh’s flight across the ocean lasted 33 ½ hours.
*His plan was named the Spirit of St. Louis.
*He took a life raft but not a parachute.
*Spirit of St. Louis is 9’10" high and 27’8" long.
- Small airplane , made out of wood, steel tubing, and fabric.
*Engine: single 223-horsepower Wright Whirlwind J-5-C engine. *Lindbergh’s route: Left Roosevelt Field, Long Island, New York flew towards New England, Canada, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, across the Atlantic Ocean, Ireland, English Channel and landed at the LeBourget Airport in Paris, France.
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*1908 Amelia saw her first plane at the Iowa Sate Fair. She was not impressed. *1918 First became interested in airplanes while working at a military hospital during World War 1.
*1920 Took her first airplane ride and decided to take flying lessons.
*1922 Bought her own plane with her mother’s help. She was 25 years old.
Painted her plane yellow and called it the Canary.
*1928 Amelia was asked to fly across the Atlantic as a passenger. The plane was called the Friendship.
*1931 Married George Putman.
*1932 Amelia was the first women to fly across the Atlantic ocean by herself. *1937 Amelia tried flying around the world. Amelia was lost somewhere in the Pacific Ocean never to be heard from again.
*Quote "You to can dream big dreams"
Follow-up Activities: Finish reading the other books listed in the Biographies on Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. Let children play with compasses and make paper airplanes. If you are looking for a fun hands on airplane activity look in the NASA Educational Booklet called Discovery PED-105/June 1994 on Page 12.
Vocabulary: Time line, history, Maps, Atlantic Ocean, Flight, Native Americans, Story Tellers, Genealogies (family trees) , Web Site, Bookmarks, Reservation, museum
Evaluation Suggestions:
Assessment:
______________________________________________________________________________
Dear Parents,
We will be studying historical events this year. We will be learning about time lines, history of aviation and Native American history as well as some personal history with your help. I will be introducing a time line between the years of 1900-2000. We will be gathering historical pictures from the local museums and the Peoples Center to add to our time line. Please be watching for further information on field trips and please gather some of your own personal genealogies.
Thank You,
______________________________________________________________________________
Dear Parents,
We will be going on a field trip (Date)___________________ to the local museums. We will be searching for local history between the years of 1920 and 1940. We will need some volunteers to help the children find local information and pictures of this time period. If you can go on the field trip please sign your name and phone number below.
Thank You,
______________________________________________________________________________
Web Sites:
Teacher Sites:
- http://www.Lehigh.edu/~amy2/hist.html (An adult Time line of Major Native American Historical Events)
- http://hanksville.phast.umas.edu/misc/Naaresources.html (Look under the History link and you can find information regarding your area or reservation)
Student Sites:
- http://www.worldbook.com/fun/aviator/html/av5.htm (two legends Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart, in aviation history)
- http://www.worldbook.com/fun/aviator/html/twolegnd.htm (Compiled list of web sites on Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart)
- http://tommy.jsc.nasa.gov/~woodfill/SPACEED/sehhtml/ApoCom1.html (a web site listed for a Comic Coloring book on Charles Lindbergh)
Suggested Resources:
Continue to use this time line lesson plan format with the following people and planes. (See pictures below)
Picture from: NASA Education
Department, PED-105/June 1994 Discovery Booklet from NASA
Lesson Plan: Moon (Na tin ik) Kootenai Created by: Mary Larson grades: K-4
(Inquisitory Presentation - Questioning)
Time Required: One month
Link: Nasa, Native American, Space, Math, Science, Phases of the MoonActivity Content: Science facts, Native American Legends, History, Math
Teacher Preparation:
- Gather books about the moon and Native American Legends related to the moon and newspaper to keep track of the phases of the moon.
- Bookmark web sites.
- Set up some nightly observations.
Student Preparation:
- Learn how to use the web.
- Show children how to use the bookmark sites for this lesson.
Materials for Classroom:
- library books,
- construction paper,
- Internet access,
- A mini book to draw pictures of the moon, as a night project.
Objectives:
1. The students will be able to tell information about the moon.
2. The students will be able to recite Native American stories about the moon.
3. The students will learn the phases of the moon and what the phases look like through observation.
4. The students will observe the sky during the day and night for sightings of the moon.
Standards: Science
- knows that the Earth is one of several planets that orbit the Sun, and the moon orbits around the Earth
- knows that the Sun can be seen only in daytime, whereas the moon is out sometimes at night and sometimes during the day
- knows that the Moon looks a little different every day, but looks the same again about every four weeks
- knows that learning can come from careful observations and simple experiments
Introduction:
Assessment:
Procedures for the Classroom:
Day 1:
- Why do Native American People tell stories about the moon?
- Read a Native American story about the moon. "How Coyote Was the Moon",
- Kalispell Idaho Native American Stories Told by Joseph Bruchac.
- http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~skywise/legends.html#Moon rape
Day 2:
After the children have had a week or so to observe and draw the moon changing, start talking about how it is changing and ask this question. Why is the moon changing its shape? Activity to understand the moon's phases: A dark room, a friend, a flashlight, and a small round object like a grapefruit. Grapefruit is the moon, the flashlight is the sun. Put the grapefruit on the table, stand behind your friend and start vto rotate around the grapefruit to observe and understand the phases of the moon.
Day 3 and 4:
- Share moon mini books with each other.
- Question: Do you know the names of the phases of the moon?
- Introduce the phases of the moon. (Full moon, Half moon, Crescent moon and New Moon etc.)
- Poem on poster board by Karen Gunderson.
- Help kids label the Phases of the Moon in their mini books.
- Read ***Moon Book, by Gail Gibbons and discuss facts with students.
- Look in Newspapers and on Calendars to see what dates the Moon Phases will appear.
- Inter net access (http://science.coe.uwf.edu/SH/curr/moon/moon.htm)
Day 5:
- Introduce: What does the moon do to the ocean tides? (High Tide and Low Tide)
- Draw and Label High and Low Tides.
- Native American Stories Told by Joseph Bruchac, Page 72 How Raven Made the Tides (Tsimshian, Pacific Northwest)
Day 6:
- Read "Thirteen Moons On Turtle's Back: A Native American Year of Moons" by Joseph Bruchac and Jonathan London.
- Use the Mailbox Book bag Lesson Plans Nov.-Dec. 1997 Page 14-15.
- Buy a turtle and count the squares on its back.
- Keep the turtle in the classroom.
- Also introduce Native American Moon Legends (some Native American Indians believed it was not good to go hunting if the points of the crescent moon were upward).
- http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~skywise/legends.html#Moon rape
Day 7:
Read "The First Man on the Moon" What would it be like to go to the moon? (no air, not much gravity, cold at night and hot during the day, no food or water, they have found pockets of ice on the moon so this could open up all kinds of new adventures.) (Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, said, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Write an adventure story about the moon. Write to John Glenn and ask questions about the moon and the flight in space when he was younger and what is is like now that he is older.
Address: NASA Dryden Flight Research Center Public Affairs Office, Edwards, Calif. 93523 (805) 258-3447 pao@news.dfrc.nasa.gov
Greetings to all our Friends of Space Day!
History was made in 1962 when a man by the name of John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. Next week, more than 32 years later, Glenn is at it again. On October 29th, the 77-year-old former Senator from Ohio will become the oldest human ever to visit space.You can participate by sending him a personal, pre-flight message via Spaceday.com
Log on at http://www.spaceday.com/johnglenn/postcard.htm and send Glenn and the crew of STS-95 a virtual postcard to wish them "Godspeed" on their historic flight. We'll collect your postcards and present them to Glenn before his mission. And remember - Space Day 1999 happens on May 6th. Mark your calendars and get your telescopes ready!
Facts and Concepts:
Follow-up Activities:
Poems:
The Sometime Moon, by Margaret Hillert
What the Moon Is, by Margaret Hillert
THE MOON By: Karen Gunderson
The light from the moon
really comes from the sun.
Watching its phases
can be lots of fun.
We can't see a new moon
because there's no light,
but then a thin crescent
shows up in the night.
Next, quarter moon, half moon
and then very soon
the sky is lit up
by a big bright full moon.
As the phases continue,
the light moves on
until once again
it looks like its gone.
Vocabulary:
Phases of the Moon, Native American Legends, Directions (North, South, East and West), Waxes, Wanes, Gravity
Evaluation Suggestions:
Have students draw pictures of the phases of the moon and label them. Orally ask students what they have learned about the Moon and record it on a tape. Send the tape home to parents or play it during Parent Teacher Conferences.
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Dear Parents,
This little book I'm sending home with your child is a Moon Book. Would you please help your child for the next month draw what the moon looks like every night. Would you please help your child record the time of night, what part of the sky the moon is in and what phase the moon is at. We will be talking about this at school and I'll send home some information for you to read so that you can help your child. If you have any questions please give me a call at school.
Thank you,
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Suggested Resources:
Books
- The Moon Book, Gail Gibbons, Scholastic Inc. New York, New York, 1997.
- Thirteen Moons On Turtle's Back, A Native American Year Of Moons" by Joseph Bruchac and Jonathan London, Philonel Books, 1992. (In this tale of many seasons, the year is divided into 13 moons. Each noon has its own story based on a native legend, told in poetic prose.)
- Moons and Rings, Companions to the Planets, Jeanne Bendick, The Millbrook Press Inc., Brookfield, Connecticut 1991.
- A new True Book, Moon, Sun, And Stars, John Lewellen, Childrens Press, Chicago 1981.
- Moon, Laurence Santrey, Troll Associates, 1985.
- Does the Moon Change Shape?, Real Readers , Meish Goldish, Raintree Publishers, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1989.
- The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, Mae and Ira Freeman, Random House, New York, New York 1979.
- The Starry Sky, Patrick Moore , Copper Beech Books, Brookfield, Connecticut 1994.
Web Sites
- http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/StarChild.html (StarChild is a learning center for young astronomers. This site has won many awards. It also directs you to other Web Sites for children.)
- http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/kids/ (An interactive kids page where you can test basic astronomy knowledge through puzzles, get basic space information and tour a space art gallery.)
- http://www.tcsn.net/afiner/intro.htm
- http://www.tcsn.net/afiner/moon.htm (A take off of Bill Arnett's "The Nine Planets". Lots of good pictures and information. Might have to be read to younger children.)
- http://science.coe.uwf.edu/SH/curr/moon/moon.htm
- http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~skywise/legends.html#Moon rape
Magazines
- "Ladybug the magazine for young children" October 1996 Publishers of Spider and Cricket
- "Highlights for Children", December 1995.
- "Contact", June 1997 page 3 and pages 14-15.
NASA Videos
Reading The Moon's Secrets
Poetry
- The Sometime Moon, by Margaret Hillert What the Moon Is, by Margaret Hillert
Lesson Plan: Sun/Stars/Na tan ik (Kootenai) Created by: Mary Larson grades: K-4
(Collaborative Learning)
Time Required: Nine months (seasonal activities)
Link: Science, Math, Native Americans, NASA, Sun, Weather, Time DirectionActivity Content:
Summary:The elementary students will learn information about the Sun through Native American stories, hands on projects, writing mini books and daily observations outside. Other areas such as direction, shadows, sun dials, Native American life styles and weather will be brought into the unit.
Standards Addressed:
Earth and Space
1. Understands essential ideas about the composition and structure of the universe and the Earth's and Sun's place in it
- know that the stars are innumerable, unevenly dispersed, and of unequal brightness
- know that the Sun can be seen only in daytime, whereas the moon is out sometimes at night and sometimes during the day
- knows that the Earth is one of several planets that orbit the Sun, and the moon orbits around the Earth
- knows that the patterns of stars in the sky stay the same, although they appear to move across the sky nightly, and different stars can be seen in different seasons
- stars are like the Sun but are so distant they look like points of light
2. Understands energy types, sources, and conversions, and their relationship to heat and temperature.
- knows that the Sun applies heat and light to Earth
- knows that things that give off light often also give off heat
3. Understands motion and the principles that explain it
- knows that light travels in a straight line unless it strikes an object
Teacher Preparation:
Find a buddy class that is two or three years older than your class and ask if they want to do a sun unit together. Gather library books from the bibliography list or books you have in your library on the sun and Native American Life and how they relate to the sun. Create a big Sun out of butcher paper for recording beginning assessment and ending assessment. Put together mini Sun books for each buddy group. Set out poetry posters or books throughout the room.
Student Preparation:
Materials for Classroom:
Butcher Paper, Colored Paper, Paint, Library Books, Computer and Internet access.
Objectives:
1. The Students will be able to orally tell several facts about the Sun. (Some of the facts might be: The Sun does not move. The Sun is much, much larger than the earth. The Sun keeps the earth in orbit. We need the Sun to survive on this earth (for warmth and to grow food). The Sun is made out of hot gas.
2. The students will be able to write facts about the Sun in a small report form or story.
3. The students will be able to recite Native American stories or legends about the Sun.
4. The students will recall how Native Americans use the Sun.
5. The students will research NASA information about the Sun, book marked on the web.
6. The students will discover shadows and how they change throughout the year.
Introduction:
Day 1:
- Assess, What do they know about the Sun?
- Write facts down on yellow butcher paper shaped like the Sun.
- Demonstrate in the classroom with bulletin boards, that the Sun comes up in the east and sets in the west. This also shows and demonstrates direction.
- Show children the daily newspaper and show them where to look for the time the Sun rises and sets.
- Send home parent letter.
Procedures for the Classroom:
Day 2:
- Start getting buddies on the web sites that are bookmarked for the sun lessons. (Web sites listed below)
- The time frame will depends on how many computers you have that have access to the internet. Kids will have to take turns searching the bookmarked sites.
- While some children are on the internet disperse different levels of sun books among the Buddies.
- Have the children read together books about the Sun and discuss again what they know about the Sun (books from your own library can be used or find books from the bibliography in this unit).
- Rove to make sure each child is understanding the Sun facts introduced in the books chosen for them.
- Have children stay with their buddy and create books pertaining to"Facts About the Sun".
- Write one or two facts a day in these books.
Day 3:
- Read Native American Stories about the Sun. "The Way To Start a Day" by Byrd Baylor. Please refer to the Bibliography.
- Show video clip in the Lion King how the lion cub was blessed in front of the sun.
- Go outside every morning and welcome the Sun like the Native Americans.
- Give thanks to the Sun for the day and hope for a peaceful productive day.
Day 4:
- Introduce shadows to the children and their buddies.
- Read about shadows and discuss how shadows are made.
- Show them their shadow outside.
- Ask questions about shadows.
- Show them how it moves and how it changes direction throughout the day by chalking their shadow on the black top having them stand in the same position different times throughout the day. You might want to rope off the area so it won't be disturbed.
- Have children work in pairs. Have children draw each others feet on the blacktop and initial. Draw arrows three different times throughout the day 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 1:00 p.m. showing the direction the shadow moves and the length of the shadow.
- Have children measure shadow with string, chains or other measuring tools.
- Keep adding one or two facts in the Sun Book.
Day 5:
- Read "Tepee, Sun and Time" (Level 2 Book 14 The Indian Reading Series).
- Talk about a sun dial.
- Buddies Experiment with a sun dial outside.
Day 6:
- Go to the star lab or observatory to look at the stars.
- Native American night sky is a good one to look at and the Big Dipper and how it moves through the different seasons.
- Reproduce the Big Dipper on black construction paper using silver sticky stars.
- Trace around the Big Dipper with glue and sprinkle with glitter.
Day 7:
- Have a potluck Star Night Party. Invite families to the star lab to see the Native American night sky and the position of the Big Dipper during each season.
- Set by the fireside and have children tell Native American stories they have learned in class.
- Gaze up at the night sky and share knowledge about the stars.
- Parents and children can be investigating the bookmarked web sites for this lesson.
- Have a Native American group drumming and Another Native American group with jerky and cinnamon fry bread. You might want to have a science group from the High School help out.
Day 8:
- The first day of each season, at the same time of day, have buddies take the same object outside and draw its shadow.
- Compare the shadows from all four seasons and discuss what happens to the shadow.
- The children should write down information and keep it: example (Object, Season, Time of day, the Position of the Sun)
Facts and Concepts:
What lights the day?_________________________
What heats the Earth?________________________
What makes plants grow?_____________________
What keeps the planets in their places?__________________________
It's a certain star.
It's the Sun.
Where the Sun shines for many hours of the day, it is summer on Earth.
Where the Sun shines for fewer hours, it is winter.
The Sun's energy keeps every living thing on Earth alive.
The Sun's energy lifts the water out out of the oceans and makes the rain.
The sun's energy makes hurricanes. But it also makes rainbows.
The pull of the Sun's gravity keeps the planets from leaving their orbits and flying off into space.
Deep inside the Sun, churning, burning bits of matter crash into each other.
They knock themselves apart and then come together again in different ways.
This changes them from one gas into another as they move out toward the surface.
The journey may take millions of years.
Never, Never, Never look directly at the sun.
Not with your eyes or through binoculars or a telescope. It could blind you.
How can the the moon cover the sun?
Hold your hand up in front of your face. Close one eye. Can your hand cover a car? A tree? Even a house?
But your hand is much smaller than any of those things.
Sundog?: Ice crystals form a halo around the sun. Usually indicates bad weather is coming.
Follow up Activities:
Show video (listed below)
Make sun cookies (Web site listed below)
POETRY
- A Rainbow Made of Stars, by Margaret Hillert
- The Sun, by Vivian Gouled
- CONSTELLATIONS, by Marilyn Helmer
- THE SUN, by Mary Lou Healy
SONGS
Vocabulary:
Directions (North, South, East and West), Energy, Gravity, Shadows, Sun Dial, Sun Dog, Legends, Orbit, Gas, NASA, Observatory, Big Dipper, Seasons)
Evaluation Suggestions:
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Dear Parents,
Our science unit this month will focus on the Sun. We will learn many facts about the Sun. Your child will be doing a variety of activities related to the Sun. (Sun facts/ Mini books, Sun Pictures, Measuring, Native American Stories, Directions, Sun Dial, Shadows) Please help your child become aware of the Sun and the direction it rises and sets. Would you please graph with your child the time of day the Sun rises and sets for the next month. Any stories or information that you can share with the class would be appreciated.
Thank You,
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Web Sites
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Video Resources
- Ulysses: An Expedition over the Sun's Poles (Nasa's Video, order through Nasa's Education Department)
Poetry:
- A Rainbow Made of Stars, by Margaret Hillert
- The Sun, by Vivian Gouled
- Constellations, by Marilyn Helmer
- The Sun, by Mary Lou Healy
Lesson Plan: Flight / Navigation Eagles (Ak nuq tu tam Ky aq nu qut) Created by: Mary Larson grades: K-4
(Generative Learning)
Time Required: Two to Three weeks
Link: Science, Math, Native Americans, NASA, Flight, Eagles, Navigation Summary:The elementary students will learn about flight and navigation through the study of eagles and planes (Principle of Flight, Bernoulli's Principle). They will also learn how important an eagle is to a Native American Indian.
Standards:
Understands motion and the principles that explain it
1. Knows that an object's motion can be changed by a push or a pull by people or by other objects
2. Knows that the Earth's gravity pulls any object toward it without touching it
3. Uses simple equipment and tools to gather scientific data and extend the senses (rulers, calculators etc.)
4. Understands that in science it is helpful to work with a team and share findings with others
5. Knows that some objects occur in nature, whereas others have been designed and made by people to solve human problems
Teacher Preparation:
- Collect meat trays.
- Recruit parent helpers to go on field trips, and to help make meat tray airplanes.
- Contact Airport and Bird Refuge to organize field trips.
Student Preparation:
Materials for Classroom:
Styrofoam meat trays, Experiment materials if you choose to use the experiments. See list below
Objectives:
1. The students will be able to explain how Eagles fly.
2. The students will be able to explain how Planes Fly.
3. The students will be able to briefly explain Gravity,Thrust, Drag and Lift.
4. The students will gain an awareness of the importance Eagles have on Native American People?
Introduction:
Day 1:
- Assess What students know about flight. (eagles and planes)
- Use a Venn Diagram to chart the differences and the similarities of planes and eagles.
Procedures for the Classroom:
Day 2:
- Read Why Does It Fly? A Just Ask Book by Chris Arvetis. This book will explain and simplify Gravity, Thrust, Drag and Lift.
- Introduce the parts of a plane. See diagram below.
- Have the children draw free hand a picture of an eagle and an airplane.
- Show the children how plane wings are curved on the top and flat on the bottom.
- Explain that eagles and planes need to go fast to get through the force of gravity (this speed is a force called thrust)
- When the plane moves through the air, the air slows it down. This is called Drag.
- Force of Lift is probably one of the hardest concepts for the children to understand. Air causes Lift. Lift makes a plane and eagles go up. The curve at the top of the wing and the flat underside of the wing causes lift. (Air going over the top of the wing has further to go and is not as strong as the air at the bottom of the wing. The air at the bottom of the wing is stronger and causes the plane and eagles to go up).
- Experiments: Bernoulli's Principle (See experiments that follow)
Day 3:
- Read Zoo Books about Eagles. Explain any information that helps children understand flight.
- Go outside and watch birds fly.
- Read Native American Animal Stories, Told by Joseph Bruchac, "Eagle Boy Zuni Southwest"t Page 27. (See Bibliography below)
- Collect pictures of Eagles put on bulletin board. Collect pictures of different types of airplanes and categorize into groups.
Day 3:
- Get children on the web sites bookmarked for this lesson. You might have to review the sites first and explain them to the children or have a high school student or an adult come in and help the young children get through the information. (See sites listed below)
- Continue to read information about birds and airplanes.
- Go to the airport on a field trip and watch planes take off and land. Make sure the airport guide understands you want the children learn more about the principles of flight.
- Draw an outline of a bald eagle and a small engine airplane on the playground with chalk to compare sizes. Have high school students help.
Day 4:
- Native American stories about the Eagles. Ask an Elder or Native American story teller to come in and tell stories about eagles.
- Review Native American Web sites listed below for Eagle stories. (Native Americans treasure eagle feathers as symbols of strength.)
Day 5:
- Go on a field trip to a bird refuge. Have presenter elaborate on the flight of birds by showing you the wings of the bird. Eagle bones are hollow and body weight is light. Eagles can fly up to 100 miles per hour. Eagles can soar up to 2 miles on warm rising air currents.
- Show Videos of flight. Birds landing and taking off.
- Measure the size of the eagles wings. Make comparisons so the children understand the weight of an eagle or how fast it can fly.
Day 6:
- Make meat tray airplanes. See Directions Below.
- You might need
- adult helpers to help make these airplanes.
- Take time to fly these planes.
Day 7:
- Have children write facts or make believe stories about eagles or planes.
- Trace and cut out eagle or airplane stencils out of construction paper. Cover outline with tissue paper. Use this as a cover on an eagle or airplane book.
Facts and Concepts:
Gravity, Thrust, Drag and Lift will have to be explained daily.
Follow up Activities:
Vocabulary:
Gravity,Thrust, Drag, Lift
Evaluation Suggestions:
Ask children individually how birds and planes fly. (many children will not be able to explain this principle very easily. It will need to be explained daily.)
Web Sites
Principles of Flight
Native American Stories
Suggested Resources:
- Why Does It Fly? A Just Ask Book Chris Arvetis and Carole Palmer, Field Publications 1984.
- Gluscabi and the Wind Eagle, Northeast Woodlands Abenaki by Joseph Bruchac
Native American Stories
- What Makes a bird A BIRD? May Garelick, Follett Publishing Company 1996.
- Eagles Rourke Enterprises, Inc.1989.
- Nature's Children, Eagles Merebeth Switzer Grolier Educational Corporation, 1986.
- Eagles Zoo Books John Bonnett Wexo, Creative Education, Inc. 1989.
- Instant Paper Airplanes E. Richard Churchill, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. 1988.
Lesson Plan: STARRY, STARRY NIGHTS Created by: Sherri Johnson grades: K-4
Time Required: Forty-five minutes to one hour ( more time needed for web research)
Link: Native American culture, science, math, art, language arts Standard:NCTM Math Curriculum Standard 6: Number Sense and Numeration – understand our numeration system by relating counting, grouping and place value concepts. Earth and Space Science, Content Standard D: Objects in the sky.
Summary:The student will gain a basic understanding of constellations by listening to an Ojibwe story (this traditional story must be told only in the winter), and by creating, naming and counting a personal constellation.
Activity Content:
The students will show number knowledge and learn about constellations by placing "stars" on a "night sky", and by creating, naming and counting a personal constellation.
Teacher Preparation:
Student Preparation:
Several days prior to the lesson, instruct students to go outside after dark to observe the stars with their parents.
Websites:
2. http://indy4.fdl.cc.mn.us/~isk/stars/starmenu.html
Materials for Classroom:
Objectives:
Introduction:
Gather around a computer (or have the sites bookmarked on many computers in a lab, if possible). Look at the bookmarked web sites and discuss the stars, constellations and "night wonders" shown on the sites. Explain that the sites will be available for the students to view at their own leisure at a later time. In group, use the Seasons Chart in Ojibwe and English to discuss the typical weather in each season. Discuss that Spring and Summer are often the warmer seasons. Fall and Winter are often the cooler seasons. But at one time, it was always the Winter season on the Earth. Fisher was the animal who traveled to Skyland to bring us the warm weather. This story tells us how Fisher did this. Read, How Fisher Went to Skyland to the students.
Procedures:
After discussing and retelling the story:
1. Draw a picture of the Big Dipper on the board. Trace the Fisher shape around it to explain that Fisher became this constellation.
2. Recall how stars look in the night sky. Groups of stars are called constellations. Show a constellation chart to read the names and discuss.
3. Pass out counters and a piece of black paper to each child.
4. Explain that they will use the counters for "stars" and the black paper for "night skies".
5. Allow students time to observe a constellation chart and to experiment with creating constellations.
6. Have students clear their skies and be ready to listen.
7. Direct them to make a constellation with a certain number of stars. (i.e. "Everyone make a constellation with seven stars.")
8. After the teacher spot-checks for accuracy, direct students to clear their skies again.
9. Continue with this procedure, allowing opportunities to create constellations with several different numbers.
10. Direct students to create a special constellation using any number of stars they wish.
11. Pass out glue and a white crayon to each child.
12. Have them glue the pieces of these special constellations in place and connect the dots with the white crayons.
13. Have them name their personal constellations and write it for them on their black papers (if the students are young learners).
14. Students should count the number of stars used and write that number in the corner of their projects.
15. Share constellations with the group.
Facts and Concepts:
A fisher is an animal related to the weasel. Constellations are made of groups of stars. Traditional and contemporary people use the Big Dipper to navigate at night.
As read in the traditional story, Fisher was very brave and gave his life to bring warm weather to our Earth. The Creator recognized Fisher for his bravery by making him a permanent part of the sky - a constellation known as the Big Dipper.
Follow-Up Activities:
Students can create constellations by poking or punching holes in black paper, turning out the classroom lights and placing the paper on the overhead. Students can further explore the bookmarked web sites.
Vocabulary:
Evaluation:
Students demonstrate number accuracy when placing stars on their skies. Students create constellations, name them and label them with an accurate number.
Bibliography:
How Fisher Went to the Skyland: The Origin of the Big Dipper, NATIVE AMERICAN STORIES, Joseph Bruchac, Fulcrum Publishing, 1991
Lesson Plan: UP IN THE CLOUDS! Created by: Sherri Johnson grades: K-4
Time Required: One and a half to two hours (You may wish to do the introduction on Day 1 and the procedure on Day 2)
Link: Native American culture, science, math, art and language arts Standard:Earth and Space Science, Content Standard D: Objects in the sky. NCTM Math Curriculum Standard: Measurement – make and use measurements in problem and everyday situations.
Summary:This lesson was created to teach students about clouds by making "cloud" pudding and by creating the three main types of clouds with cotton balls.
Activity Content:
The student will make "cloud" pudding and create the three main types of clouds with cotton balls.
Teacher Preparation:
All needed pudding items are available at a local grocery store. Any topping could be included to create "clouds". Have the pudding mix, measuring cup, and mixing spoon ready in a mixing bowl for each group. Open all toppings and put in spoons for sprinkling beforehand. Be sure to copy the cloud workpage with light blue paper.
Student Preparation:
Students should have some previous experience observing clouds of different types and noting their differences.
Websites:
2. http://athena.wednet.edu/curric/weather/pricloud/index.html
Materials for the Classroom: