Designed by:
Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation
| Conclusion | Credits | Teacher Page
Introduction
We have sent rockets into outer space,
satellites into orbit, probes to other planets, men to the moon, shuttles
routinely take off and we are building an international space station! Would you like to go into space? How about to Mars or Jupiter?
The cost of space travel is in the
billions of dollars and we have millions of people that are starving and
homeless. Should we take care of these people or should we continue our quest
for more knowledge of the unknown?
You are a state senator, and it is your
job to approve the latest funding bill for NASA. Being that you are newly
elected, you don’t know that much about space travel. To learn more, so that
you may make an informed decision, you and your aides are going to research our
government’s past space expenses, as well as those of other countries. You are
also going to talk to your constituents (the people who elected you!) and get
their opinions.
Task
You will learn about all the
advancements in space travel and the justifications and costs involved with
it. Then you will form opinions as to
whether you agree or disagree with these costs.
You will look at President Kennedy’s
views on sending a man to the moon, Some
Astronaut’s views, and an average citizens opinions about their views on the
space program's monetary and social impact on the U.S.
Why did President Kennedy feel it was
necessary to be the first country to put a man on the moon? How could we
justify the expense of training the astronauts, the space ship, and most
importantly the lives of the astronauts if something had gone wrong? Should the
people of America be allowed to have a say in future space endeavors?
Process
You are going to be put in groups and
given a position to defend. After your
group has investigated the issues and understood the background information you
will begin to formulate your facts and ideas to be presented to the class.
Your group will need to present your
side of the argument to the class and answer questions. The groups will be seated at individual
tables and have all of their facts organized in order to answer questions in
support of their assigned roles.
Another group will be working against
your position at the same time. When giving your facts and opinions you should
be firm believers and try to convince the class that yours is the right
position..
Your presentation may take the form of
one or more of the following.
ü
Power
Point Presentation
ü
Web
Page
ü
Summary
Tables
Evaluation
Your grade will based on the following:
ü
Cooperating
with peers in a group
ü
Factual
Information
ü
Effort
to gather information
ü
Presentation
Please click here
to review the criteria for which your grade will be based.
Your grade on this project will count as
a major test grade.
Conclusion
How could your group’s role have been
interpreted in a different manner?
Do you think that there were other roles that
could have influenced the outcome of these issues?
Do you think that as a group you had adequate
facts to persuade the class to your side?
Do you think that your presentation generated
new questions and concerns about the costs of the space programs?
Click here for a printable answer sheet
Credits
This Web Quest was created by
The following websites were used as part
of this Quest:
ü
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/
ü
http://www.nasm.si.edu/apollo/apollo.htm
ü
http://www.nauts.com/history/index.html
ü http://www.space.com/news/spacehistory/greatest_space
ü
http://www.time.com/time/reports/space/spacerace.html
ü
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/
ü
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/jfkeo.html
ü
http://www.imagine5.com/apollo/A1JPG/A1Mission.html
Teacher Page
This web
quest is designed for 7th or 8th grade social studies classes but it
can be adapted for most levels. It is
designed to compliment the class text and curricular material on space travel
and politics of the cold war.
For this web quest students will investigate the history of space travel. Political, social and economic aspects of space travel will be investigated. Conclusions will be drawn, by the students, as to the economic rationalization of the space program and about the future of space travel.