Journey Through the Universe

created by Melissa Dutton

Age:  6th - 8th grade

Contact me: mdutton@esc18.net

Task     Process     Evaluation    Resources

Introduction 

 "I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth.  No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish."  These words were spoken by President John F. Kennedy in a Special Joint Session of Congress on May 25, 1961.  And so the space age began.  The year is in the future and mankind has been traveling through the universe for centuries.  Earth is not the only inhabited planet, and travel agencies that specialize in guided tours through space are extremely popular.  You and your team work for one of these travel agencies.  To find out your job assignment, continue below.

Task

You are in charge of developing a power point advertisement featuring your newest tour "A Journey Through the Universe" that features a black hole, the Milky Way, the asteroid belt, a comet, and Hubble's World.  You will be required to research several of the universe's extraordinary phenomenon in order to include the information in your advertisement.  Listed in the task section, are questions that might be beneficial for you, but keep in mind, that your agency is looking for unusual and amazing information on each stop along the tour.  Any extra interesting information you find should be included in your power point presentation.  You will need to keep all information in either a notebook, journal, or on index cards.  Have fun researching and viewing the universe's outstanding and elaborate creations and when you're finished, visit the space game section.  Happy hunting.   

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Process

Asteroid Belt    Comets    Milky Way    Black Holes     Hubble's World       Games 

Listed below are questions to help you research.  Use the web sites below to assist you as you answer the questions and take a research journey through space as you develop your advertisement/power point presentation.  Remember, you're also looking for unusual and amazing information for each tour stop.  After you have researched all your information, work as a team and create a power point presentation for your company's tour of a "Journey Through the Universe."

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          Something to think about in the Asteroid Belt.

1.    Where are most asteroids found? What are asteroids?

2.    What keeps asteroids from crashing into planets' surfaces?

3.    Why do scientists name the asteroids that are spotted from Earth?

4.    How do scientists come up with the names for each asteroid?

5.    Asteroids are also referred to as what?

6.    What is asteroid Eros?  What is NEAR?

7.    What is so important about the possibility that there is another asteroid belt like
       ours circling around a star?

8.    Are asteroids mostly round like planets, or are they all different shapes?

9.    What is the largest asteroid ever discovered?  Was it ever considered a planet?

10.   When and where was asteroid 2000 EB173 found?

Get helpful information from:

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level2/asteroids.html

http://www.solstation.com/stars/asteroid.htm

http://space.com

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/eros_wrap_010419-1.html

http://www.dogpile.com/  

http://www.astropa.unipa.it/Asteroids2001/

http://www.askjeeves.com

http://howstuffworks.lycoszone.com/asteroid.htm

http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/10/24/new.asteroid/

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        Something to think about with Comets.

1.    What are comets?  What are they made of?

2.    How long can a comet's tail be?

3.    What is an anomalous tail?

4.    What part of a comet do we really see from Earth?

5.    What is another name for a comet?

6.    What is a comet made of?

7.    How often does Comet Halley appear?  Name at least four other interesting  
       facts about Comet Halley.

8.    What is Comet Hale-Bopp?

9.    Scientists think Comet Hale-Bopp may have formed near what planet?

10.   Do comets form around stars?

Get helpful information from:

http://www.solstation.com/stars/oort.htm

http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/faculty/jewitt/comet.html

http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/tnp/comets.html

http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/tnp/halley.html

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/comet/

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/comet_hale_000605.html

http://www.space.com

http://www.askjeeves.com

http://www.dogpile.com/

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   Something to think about while in the Milky Way.

1.    Describe the Milky Way.    What is it made of? 

2.    What is at the center of the Milky Way?

3.    What is our solar system’s galactic halo?

4.    How old are the stars in the halo?

5.    What percent of the Milky Way galaxy has researchers found?

6.    What is Chandra? Why is it important in researching the Milky Way?

7.    What type of galaxy is the Milky Way?

8.    Does evidence suggest that the Milky Way consumed smaller galaxies billions
       of years ago?

9.    Astronomers predict that the Milky Way and what will eventually collide
       billions of years from now?

10.    What is the age of the oldest stars in the Milky Way?

Get helpful information from:

http://space.com

http://www.space.com/news/milky_way_000104.html

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/giant_black_holes_000113.html

http://www.dogpile.com/

http://www.askjeeves.com  

http://www.seds.org/messier/more/mw.html

http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/space/01/08/milky.way.meal/

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/universe_level2/milky_way.html

http://www.prime-radiant.com/Colliding_Galaxies.html

http://ngst.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/DRMTheme3.html

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Something to think about while viewing
                     Black Holes.

1.    How are black holes formed?

2.    Which do scientists think came first, the galaxy or the black hole?

3.    Do black holes evaporate?

4.    Include other useful and extraordinary information you’ve found on your
       journey through black holes.

5.    What are some of the different types of black holes?

6.    How large can black holes be?

7.    How do scientists locate black holes?

8.    What is the relationship between black holes and their parent galaxies?

Get helpful information from:

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/introduction/black_holes.html

http://cosmology.berkeley.edu/Education/BHfaq.html

http://www.dogpile.com/

http://www.askjeeves.com  

http://www.findarticles.com (research black holes)

http://space.com  

http://howstuffworks.lycoszone.com/black-hole.htm (Don't forget to check out all links on this site.  It list other great black hole links.)

http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/gr/public/bh_home.html

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Something to think about while viewing
                 Hubble’s World.

1.    What is Hubble?

2.    Who created it and when?

3.    When was Hubble launched into space?  What was the STS mission number?

4.     Why didn’t Hubble work at first? How was it fixed?

5.     What has Hubble seen?

6.     Research a few of Hubble’s images.  Describe and tell about the images you
        chose.

7.     Is Hubble still in operation?  If so, how does NASA keep Hubble operational?

8.     How large is Hubble?

9.     How many parts does Hubble have?  Name some of them.    

You can find information at:

http://hubble.nasa.gov/

http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/07/13/hubble.stellar.demolition/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/space/08/02/hubble.warped/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/

http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/Latest.html

http://encarta.msn.com/

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/diamond_jubilee/1996/sandage_hubble.html

http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/whats-new.html

http://hubblesite.org/

http://space.com

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bahubb.html

http://imagine-hawaii.com/hubble.html

http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m1590/1_57/65370819/p1/article.jhtml

http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/welcome/hubble.htm

http://www.nationalgeographic.com

http://space.about.com

http://howstuffworks.lycos.com/hubble.htm

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Reward yourself for a job well done in the Game section.

http://www.sikids.com/games/blasters/sbindex.html

http://observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasa/fun/fun_index.shtml.html

http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/galaxies-galore/

http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/Puzzles/Games/  

http://spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov/spacepl.htm

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/kids/kids_index.html

http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/

http://www.article19.com/shockwave/jigsaw_sp1.htm

http://www.surfnetkids.com/spacekids.htm

http://www.spacekids.com

http://observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasa/education/reference/orbits/orbit_sim.html

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Evaluation    click here for a printable page

Resources

 http://www.cs.umb.edu/jfklibrary/speeches.htm

 Gallery images from NASA

http://webquest.sdsu.edu/  

Rand McNally GeoTrivia Space book

Hope you enjoyed your "Journey Through the Universe."  Don't forget to visit space again.

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