6th Grade - Colonizing the Moon
EQ: What do we as students at Cass Middle School need to create to sustain life on the moon?
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Lesson Plans
ELA
ELAGSE6W7: Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when appropriate ELAGSE6RI1: Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. |
Thursday 5/4/2023-Wednesday 5/10/2023
The students will write a reflection in their STEM notebook about their colony. Were they able to answer all of the necessary questions? Did they have enough information to convince someone to move to their colony? |
Math
MGSE6.RP.3b: Solve unit rate problems including those involving unit pricing and constant speed. MGSE6.NS.3 Fluently add, subtract, multiply, and divide multi-digit decimals using the standard |
Thursday 5/4/23
Students will research Artemis and the contribution for our return to the moon. Friday 5/5/23 Students will see a guest speaker, Mr. Ryan McKibben, who is a B2 (SLS) Mechanical Operations Engineer from Stennis Space Center in Louisiana. Mr. McKibben will explain his work on the Artemis I mission in NASA’s mission to return to the moon to prepare for a Mars mission. Monday 5/8/23 Students are given the materials that will be used to make their Lunar Rover in Science and cost will be calculated in Math class. Tuesday 5/9/23 – Wednesday 5/10/23 Students will research Artemis and the contribution for our return to the moon. Thursday 5/11/23 Students will complete a hands-on representation of landing on the moon. There will be a ball placed on top of piece of PVC with strings attached to it (the spaceship). The students will have to transport the spaceship using the strings attached, without the ball falling off, and place it on top of a rocky/sandy bowl (the surface of the Moon) a certain distance away. The students will time themselves to see how long it takes to land on the Moon and if the ball falls off, they must go back to the starting lie and try again. Once the students successfully land, they will have to change certain variables (such as the size and wright of the ball or the distance they are going) and reattempt docking with the new situation. These times will be documented. Friday 5/12/23 Students will measure the distance and time their rover traveled in science class and calculated the unit rate to determine a constant speed for feet per second. |
Science
S6E1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about current scientific views of the universe and how those views evolved. a. Ask questions to determine changes in models of Earth’s position in the solar system, and origins of the universe as evidence that scientific theories change with the addition of latest information. Clarification statement: Students should consider Earth’s position in geocentric and heliocentric models and the Big Bang as it describes the formation of the universe.) b. Develop a model to represent the position of the solar system in the Milky Way galaxy and in the known universe. c. Analyze and interpret data to compare and contrast the planets in our solar system in terms of: Size relative to earth, Surface and atmospheric features, relative distance from the sun, and ability to support life d. Develop and use a model to explain the interaction of gravity and inertia that governs the motion of objects in the solar system e. Ask questions to compare and contrast the characteristics, composition, and location of comets, asteroids, and meteoroids. |
Monday, May 1, 2023
Students viewed Apollo 16 astronauts driving rover on the surface of the moon. Students began research on the surface of the moon and the features a vehicle would need to have to travel on the surface of the moon. Tuesday, May 2, 2023 Students completed research of the surface of the moon and vehicle features writing their findings in their STEM notebooks. Wednesday, May 3, 2023 Students watched a portion of the 1960 movie, “12 To the Moon” and compared conjecture of the movie about space travel and characteristics of the moon that we now know to be different through recent exploration and discovery. Friday, May 5, 2023 Students watched the end of the 1960 movie, “12 To the Moon” and discuss differences in the movie’s conjecture of space travel and characteristics of the moon verses presently known information. Monday, May 8, 2023 Students will sketch a design of their pasta lunar rover along with pasta materials needed to build their model in their STEM notebooks accompanied by an explanation of their design. Tuesday, May 9, 2023 Students begin work on their pasta lunar rover. Wednesday, May 10, 2023 Students complete and evaluate their pasta lunar rover through test runs. Students will make any necessary redesigns on their rover. Friday, May 11, 2023 Students will make final runs of their pasta rovers and collect data on the distance of their run. Students will complete the day by writing a reflection in their STEM notebooks |
Social Studies
SS6G1: Locate selected features of a selected country. SS6G12: Explain the impact of location, climate, distribution of natural resources, and population distribution in selected countries. SS6H1: Explain conflict and change in selected countries. SS6CG3: Compare and contrast various forms of government. SS6CG4: Explain forms of citizen participation in government. SS6E1: Analyze different economic systems. a. Compare how traditional, command, and market economies answer the economic questions of 1-what to produce, 2-how to produce, and 3-for whom to produce. Map and Globe Skills GOAL: The student will use maps to retrieve social studies information. Information Processing Skills GOAL: The student will be able to locate, analyze, and synthesize information related to social studies topics and apply this information to solve problems/make decisions. |
Friday (5/5)
1. Students will be creating a country/colony on The Moon in groups 2. Students will decide what job they are for their group from the following choices: Geographer, Historian, Cultural Designer, or Economic/Political Designer. 3. Students will design a map of their Colony on The Moon, write the founding of their country, design a flag, and choose what type of government their country will have Monday (5/8) 4. Students will describe the climate/temperatures, regions of the colony, vegetation available, and natural resources accessible. They will also choose an economic system for their colony. Tuesday (5/9) 5. Students will create the history of their colony, create a currency, and design the culture. Students will also determine what environmental issues they may face on the Moon such as lack of water and provide details on how they would respond to these issues. 6. Students will determine the demographics of their colony and what careers there will be. The careers will have to match their exports and industries. Wednesday (5/10) 7. Students will create a PowerPoint to display all of the information from the previous days. Thursday (5/11) 8. Students will present their "Colonizing The Moon" presentation to the class. |