To Mars and Beyond - Teacher Notes

Photo: NOAA

Theme: Space

Grade: 7-9

To the teacher

These short lesson units provided in the lesson index are focused on specific tasks and designed to take between 4-5 hours to complete. The lessons are structured in a WebQuest format.

This lesson was adapted from materials originally designed as a set of three projects in a theme for use in project-based learning mode (referred to below as the "original materials"). The projects in the original materials were designed to take between 6-10 hours to complete. Links to the original project materials (localised, otherwise unadapted) are provided here for the teacher who wishes to adapt them and use them for a larger scale project.

The workflow of this WebQuest lesson:

Step	Detail	Grouping	Location
1	Teacher introduces the topic	Class	Classroom
2	Teams meet to allocate roles, discuss and plan the project	Team	Computer Room (scheduled)
3	Researching and writing findings	Individual	Flexible
4	Progress report and feedback	Team	Flexible
5	Compile report and presentation	Team	Flexible
6	Conclusion and exhibition of work	Class	Computer room (scheduled)

Note that only classroom time is scheduled. Computer room time can be scheduled by the teachers for a whole class, but learners could continue work as individuals or teams by their own arrangement. For example, a team could arrange to meet in the computer room after school.

It is not necessary for each learner to have computer access during class time. Learners are placed in groups in which they discuss and plan their project. The focus of these projects is to achieve assessment standards and especially to acquire information skills rather than to focus on ICT skills.

Links to the original materials

Space Race

Teacher support

Learner support

Space Exploration

Teacher support

Learner support

To Mars and Beyond

Teacher support

Learner support