FROM ROCK N ROLL TO A MARS SPACE SCIENTIST SOCIAL STUDIES LESSON PLAN

IS A FEATURE OF

A NEWS BROADCAST FOR HIGH SCHOOL AND MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS BY MACNEIL/LEHRER PRODUCTIONS

FROM ROCK N ROLL TO A MARS SPACE SCIENTIST SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM

Table of Contents
LETTER TO THE EDUCATOR...... 1 FROM ROCK N ROLL TO A MARS SPACE SCIENTIST: SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM.. 2

Spring, 2013 Dear Educator, the.News online video reports for the.Gov and the.Sci provide middle and high school students with a valuable exercise in language arts, science and social studies with this 7:43 segment From Rock n Roll to a Mars Space Scientist at www.pbs.org/newshour/thenews/thegov. Correspondent Spencer Michels gets a lesson in space technology and career education from NASA Team Leader Adam Steltzner of the Mars Rover mission. You can also view this report in the For Educators section of the website. All videos and curricula have been informed by the.News instructional design that can be found on the website www.pbs.org/newshour/thenews/foreducators. The curriculum includes content-based standards, discussion questions, student activities, vocabulary and primary reference sources. A complete transcript of each video report includes time codes to assist in isolating specific segments of the video and to augment the instruction of media literacy and multimedia production. All of this material is presented as options to fit teachers instructional needs. References to Larry Bells The 12 Powerful Words are highlighted in bold in the lesson plans and in the thought starter questions on the home page and educators page, and in the transcript (to denote where they are used in the video segment). We also include a section called general topics to correlate to the lessons and video as well as concept based standards with conceptual lens and enduring understanding. We welcome our partners at the Omaha Public Schools who have joined the.News in the fourth year of a special pilot project, as well as the Collective for Youth afterschool Middle School Learning Center initiative in Omaha. the.News has developed a special authoring tool for students called YOU.edit, which gives students an online tool to remix the content of the.News reports, so they can create their own multimedia presentations. This editing tool can be found by clicking on the YOU.edit button on the home page of the website. Currently used with our OPS teacher consultants, it is password protected so that it can serve as a viable educational asset that allows classroom teachers to assign multimedia projects within the security and content safety of the.News website. Answers to student thought starter questions listed below the video. 1. They needed to analyze the correct speed of the crane that lowered the Rover otherwise it would have crashed upon landing. Made of rockets, it lowered the Rover on tethers, then flew away before landing, not disturbing Martian dust. 2. Curiosity. 3. Are we alone in the solar system, in the universe? Was there ever life on Mars? Could life have been supported in the environment of Mars? Sincerely,

Karen W. Jaffe Manager, Education Projects, the.News MacNeil/Lehrer Productions 27 00 S. Quincy Street, Suite 250 Arlington, VA 22206 kjaffe@newshour.org www.pbs.org/newshour/thenews

From Rock n Roll to a Mars Space Scientist

This lesson was designed to support the.News video From Rock n Roll to a Mars Space Scientist. The video can be found online at: www.pbs.org/newshour/thenews/thegov

Omaha Public School Standards

http://www.ops.org/District?LinkClick.aspx?fileticket= Hbqyrrg2ydM%3d&tabid=912&mid=2006

Grade Level: 7 12 Concept Areas: Social Studies, Government/Civics, Public Policy, Debate, Language Arts Key Concepts: In this lesson, students will view the.News story From Rock n Roll to a Mars Space Scientist to gain an understanding of the recent mission to Mars named Curiosity and its eight-month, 354 million mile journey to the Red Planet. They will then research various views on funding NASA for future missions, formulate a position, and summarize their views on future funding in a letter to their Congressional Representative. Key Objectives: The student will: Describe the landing of the Curiosity mission to Mars and its importance. Compare and contrast the positive and negative implications of whether there is life on Mars. Analyze the pros and cons of future funding for exploring Mars and the solar system. Formulate debate points and discuss aspects of NASA funding for exploring Mars and the solar system. Formulate a letter to their Congressional Representative regarding future funding for interplanetary missions. Key Vocabulary: Constellation: any of various groups of stars to which definite names have been given, as Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Botes, Cancer, Orion. Daunting: anything causing fear or discouragement; intimidating Red Planet: another name for Mars, the small reddish planet that is the 4th from the sun Robotic Rover: a machine that resembles a human and does mechanical, routine tasks on command, including moving from one location to another.

U.S. HISTORY: GRADE 8 Citizenship/Government: Describe the structure and function of government, the expanding role and responsibilities of the citizen in a representative democracy, and compare and contrast these elements to those in other countries. Conceptual Lens: Conflict/Beliefs/Values Enduring Understanding: Conflict is generated by differing ideological philosophies of separate groups and their failure to compromise GOVERNMENT: GRADE 12 Standard 04: Describe the factors that influence government policy and decisions. READING: GRADES 8 12 Standard 01: Students will read a variety of grade level texts fluently with accuracy, appropriate pace, phrasing and expression. Standard 03: Students will extract and construct meaning using prior knowledge, applying text information, and monitoring comprehension while reading grade level text. MULTIPLE LITERACIES GRADE 8 Standard 09: Students will research, analyze, and communicate information in a variety of media and formats (textual, visual, and digital). WRITING Standard 05: Students will write for a variety of purposes and audiences in multiple genres. SPEAKING AND LISTENING Standard 06: Students will develop and apply speaking skills to communicate key ideas in a variety of situations.

 Sequester: to remove something temporarily from the possession of the owner; in this case, Congress passed a law that took the responsibility for allocating funding to different federal agencies away from the President and itself. This resulted in across-the-board cuts to nearly all federal agencies. Space Shuttle: any of several U.S. space vehicles consisting of a reusable manned orbiter that touches down on a landing strip after an orbital mission, two reusable solid rocket boosters that drop off after initial ascent, and an expendable external tank containing liquid propellants.
Sources: Dictionary.com

National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies

http://downloads.ncss.org/NCSSTeacherStandardsVol1-rev2004.pdf

STANDARD VI: POWER, AUTHORITY, & GOVERNANCE Help students to understand the purpose of government and how its powers are acquired, used, and justified Help learners to analyze and explain governmental mechanisms to meet the needs and wants of citizens, regulate territory, manage conflict, and establish order and security STANDARD X: CIVIC IDEALS & PRACTICES Facilitate learner efforts to locate, access, analyze, organize, synthesize, evaluate, and apply information about selected public issues identifying, describing, and evaluating multiple points of view and taking reasoned positions on such issues Help learners to analyze and evaluate the influence of various forms of citizen action on public policy Encourage learner efforts to evaluate the degree to which policies and citizen behaviors reflect or foster the stated ideals of a democratic republican form of government Encourage learner efforts to evaluate the degree to which public policies and citizen behaviors reflect or foster the stated ideals of a democratic republican form of government

Time Frame: News Segment Viewing Activity: 1 class period Main Activity: 1 2 class periods, plus homework time for writing letter Lesson Topics: Space Exploration Robotics Project Management Government Funding

Materials: the.News video Rock n Roll to a Mars Space Scientist available at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/thenews/thegov computers with Internet access

Common Core State Standards Initiative

http://www.corestandards.org/

LITERACY IN HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES, SCIENCE & TECHNICAL SUBJECTS RH.9 10.1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of information. RH.9 10.2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text. RH.11 12.1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole. Rh.11 12.3. Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain. SPEAKING AND LISTENING SL.7 12.1. Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacherled) with diverse partners on grades 7-12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. WRITING W.7 12.2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

 pens, pencils, and paper Student Handouts: o Handout #1: News Segment Viewing Activity o Handout #2: Pros and Cons of Funding NASAs Mission to Mars Background: After the space shuttle Columbia disaster on February 1, 2003, the George W. Bush administration announced the shuttles would be retired after the space station was complete. President Bush then proposed a bold new program called Constellation that would aim to return to the moon but no funding came during his tenure in office. In 2011, President Barack Courtesy of NASA Obama cancelled the program and announced that NASA would end its low-orbit missions and focus its efforts on longer-range flights into the solar system, beginning with the planet Mars. On November 26, 2011, NASA launched Curiosity, a car-sized robotic rover, from Cape Canaveral. After an eightmonth, 354 million mile trek to the Red Planet, Curiosity successfully landed on Aeolis Palus in the Gale Crater on Mars on August 6, 2012. The Gale Crater was created by an asteroid billions of years ago. Its multi-layered surface of sediment deposits offers a rich geological history for Curiosity to investigate. The missions goals include examination of the Martian climate and geology, and to determine whether the area in the Gale Crater has or ever had conditions favorable to supporting life. One of the missions most daunting challenges was landing the delicate and multi-task-capable rover on the Martian surface. In what NASA scientists called seven minutes of terror, Curiosity landed on the planet through a complex series of steps where the rover was lowered on tethered wires from a sky crane made primarily of rockets that then flew away before it could stir up the Martian dust. Nearly every aspect of the operation has to go flawlessly or the rover could have been damaged during landing.1 (See a video of the landing procedure at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki_Af_o9Q9s&feature=player_embedded2). The man leading the team behind this operation is Adam Steltzner, the Lead Landing Engineer. Dr. Steltzner is somewhat of an unusual choice given his early difficulties in school and lost years as a rock n roll musician in the San Francisco Bay area. Steltzner struggled with academics in elementary and high school. I passed my geometry classthe second timewith an F plus because the teacher just didnt want to see me again. he said. His father told him hed never amount to anything but a ditch digger. Then one night, he explains, he was on his way home from playing a gig at a club and he became fascinated with the stars, especially the constellation of Orion. The fact that it was in a different place in the sky at night when I returned home from
Courtesy of NASA
1

PBS NewsHour, New Discoveries from NASAs Curiosity Rovers Mission to Mars February 8, 2013 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/jan-june13/marsrover_02-08.html 2 NPR Story So You Landed on Mars. Now What? August 10, 2012 www.npr.org/2012/08/10/158515499/so-you-landed-on-marsnow-what

playing a gig than it had been when I'd driven out to the gig. he said, I had only some vague recollection from my high school time that something was moving with respect to something else The experience was enough to motivate him to take a physics and astronomy class at Marin Community College in California. As he explained in the video, I took that physics course. It blew my mind and really changed the course of my life. he said. From that point on, he was hooked. Today, Steltzner is 40 years old, has pierced ears, wears snakeskin boots and sports an Elvis haircut. Some things you just cant give up. He holds science and engineering degrees from several top schools and is married with two kids. After living out Partnership for 21st Century Skills some of his youthful fantasies, he was glad to http://www.p21.org be involved in something that produced Civic Literacy tangible results. Referring to his earlier life, he Participating effectively in civic life through knowing said he was not really able to get a solid how to stay informed and understanding understanding of good and bad was tough for governmental processes me, and the thing that engineering and physics gave me was this idea that there was a right Creativity and Innovation answer, and I could get to it. 3 He admits that Use a wide range of idea creation techniques (such there is something sexy about space travel, as brainstorming) like there was with rock and roll. But Elaborate, refine, analyze and evaluate their own ideas in order to improve and maximize creative engineering and science gave him a career and efforts challenges he never thought imaginable. What the next challenge for Adam Steltzner? In a Critical Thinking and Problem Solving recent interview, he said hed love to develop Reason Effectively: a landing system for a mission to Jupiters Use various types of reasoning (inductive, deductive, 4 watery moon Europa. etc.) as appropriate to the situation However, Mr. Steltzner may have a difficult time fulfilling that challenge with the Make Judgments and Decisions: current political climate surrounding NASAs Effectively analyze and evaluate evidence, funding. As mentioned earlier, the arguments, claims and beliefs Analyze and evaluate major alternative points of Constellation program that would return view Americas space exploration to the moon was Interpret information and draw conclusions based on cancelled and low-orbit shuttle missions were the best analysis also ended. The focus on longer-range flights into the solar system, beginning with the Communication and Collaboration planet Mars is currently going on, but funding Articulating thoughts and ideas clearly and is always a subject to budget cuts. NASA plans effectively through speaking and writing to drop nearly $310 million from its Planetary Listen effectively to decipher meaning, including Science Division budget in 2013, a cut at knowledge, values, attitudes and intentions affects future missions to Mars, lunar science, Utilize multiple media and technologies, and know how to judge their effectiveness a priori as well as and the study of outer planets. Congress had assess their impact cut $500 million from NASAs budget in 2012 which left NASA with its lowest funding level in four years.5

PBS NewsHour, New Discoveries from NASAs Curiosity Rovers Mission to Mars February 8, 2013 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/jan-june13/marsrover_02-08.html 4 NPR Story So You Landed on Mars. Now What? August 10, 2012 www.npr.org/2012/08/10/158515499/so-you-landed-on-marsnow-what 5 FoxNews NASAs space exploration plans take a galactic hit February 13, 2012 http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/02/13/nasa-funding-cuts-coming-space-exploration-to-suffer/

In addition, the recent sequester spending bill cut about $900 million from NASAs roughly $17.8 billion it received in 2012 and as of March, 2013, the House of Representatives voted to cut another $300 million.6 The Senate proposed a bill that would restore about $223 million to NASAs Planetary Science division, but this is for only one year.7 It is not clear at this point how much of this discrepancy between the House and Senate bills will be worked out in conference committee, but its likely NASA will receive less money. All this sets in stark contrast to space agencys plans for more missions. NASA has a robust program of exploration, technology development and scientific research that will last for years to come. NASA plans for the future include sending humans to explore the solar system and landing humans on Mars. This involves building a vehicle with the capacity to take four astronauts on a 21-day mission. Whether any of this happens will depend on the Congresss continued funding, Presidential passion for exploring the solar system, and ultimately the will of the American people.

Lesson Plan
1. Opening Activity News Segmetn Viewing Activity: 1. Show the video From Rock n Roll to a Mars Space Scientist or have students watch the video as homework. 2. Divide the clas sinto pairs or trios of students and distribute student handout #1 News Segment Viewing Activity. You can divide up the questions among students or have them answer them all. 3. Review with students questions 6 8 in general class discussion. 2. Main Activity: In this activity, students will analyze reasons for and against funding NASAs missions to Mars and the solar system and formulate arguments for or against continued funding. They will then debate the issue in a small group and report their findings to the class. Students will then formulate a position, and summarize their views in a letter to their Congressional Representative that either supports or rejects funding NASA for missions to the planets. 1. Group students in pairs and distribute the student handout Pros and Cons of Funding NASAs Mission to Mars graphic organizer. Have half the pairs support continued finding and half be against it. 2. Provide time for students to conduct their research and complete the graphic organizer. 3. After students have enough research to support their view, have them meet with a pair researching the opposite point of view. Give each side five minutes to present their best ideas to the group of four. 4. Reconvene the full class. Have each group of four respond to the question of funding missions to Mars as themselves, explaining their own opinions. Remind them to consider the opinions of other classmates when formulating their own opinions and include facts to support their positions. 5. Have students formulate a persuasive letter to their Congressional Representatives sharing their thoughts on future funding for NASA missions to Mars. They should include specific facts, figures and relevant information from their research and the class activity and write the letter in a persuasive style either advocating or rejecting the proposed bills. Find your Representative http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm Assessment: Active participation during discussions and activities. Students can turn in their notes from their viewing of the.News news segment. Evaluate students debate performance and the Congressional letter using the suggested rubric provided at the end of this lesson or your own assessment tool.

Federal Times, Sequester, spending bill chop NASA funding March 22, 2013 http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20130322/AGENCY01/303220002/Sequester-spending-bill-chop-NASA-funding 7 The Planetary Society, [Updated] Senate Bill Restores $223 million to NASAs Planetary Space Division, March 27, 2013 http://www.planetary.org/blogs/casey-dreier/2013/20130312-proposed-senate-bill-restores-223-million-to-planetary-science.html

Resources: the.News http://www.pbs.org/newshour/thenews/ PBS NOVA: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/is-there-life-on-mars.html Mars Exploration Rovers: http://marsrover.nasa.gov/home/index.html Space.com http://www.space.com/18027-mars-rover-curiosity-amazing-photos-red-planet.html NASAs Curiosity Mars Rover/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MarsCuriosity MarsRover on Twitter https://twitter.com/marsrover PBS NewsHour, New Discoveries from NASAs Curiosity Rovers Mission to Mars February 8, 2013 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/jan-june13/marsrover_02-08.html NPR Story Crazy Smart: When a Rocker Designs a Mars Lander August 3, 2012, http://www.npr.org/2012/08/03/157597270/crazy-smart-when-a-rocker-designs-a-mars-lander NPR Story So You Landed on Mars. Now What? August 10, 2012 www.npr.org/2012/08/10/158515499/so-youlanded-on-mars-now-what FoxNews NASAs space exploration plans take a galactic hit February 13, 2012 http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/02/13/nasa-funding-cuts-coming-space-exploration-to-suffer/ Federal Times, Sequester, spending bill chop NASA funding March 22, 2013 http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20130322/AGENCY01/303220002/Sequester-spending-bill-chop-NASAfunding 1The Planetary Society, [Updated] Senate Bill Restores $223 million to NASAs Planetary Space Division, March 27, 2013 http://www.planetary.org/blogs/casey-dreier/2013/20130312-proposed-senate-bill-restores-223million-to-planetary-science.html

Activity Designer: Greg Timmons is a former social studies teacher, now freelance writer and educational consultant.

Assessment Rubric Debate Activity Student Name _________________________________________________________ CATEGORY Understanding of Topic 4 The team clearly understood the topic in-depth and presented their information forcefully and convincingly. All information presented in the debate was clear, accurate and thorough. Every major point was well supported with several relevant facts, statistics and/or examples. All arguments were clearly tied to an idea (premise) and organized in a tight, logical fashion. All counterarguments were accurate, relevant and strong. 3 The team clearly understood the topic in-depth and presented their information with ease. Most information presented in the debate was clear, accurate and thorough. Every major point was adequately supported with relevant facts, statistics and/or examples. Most arguments were clearly tied to an idea (premise) and organized in a tight, logical fashion. Most counterarguments were accurate, relevant, and strong. 2 The team seemed to understand the main points of the topic and presented those with ease. Most information presented in the debate was clear and accurate, but was not usually thorough. 1 The team did not show an adequate understanding of the topic.

Information

Information had several inaccuracies OR was usually not clear.

Use of Facts/Statistics

Every major point Every point was was supported not supported. with facts, statistics and/or examples, but the relevance of some was questionable. All arguments were clearly tied to an idea (premise) but the organization was sometimes not clear or logical. Most counterarguments were accurate and relevant, but several were weak. Arguments were not clearly tied to an idea (premise).

Organization

Rebuttal

Counterarguments were not accurate and/or relevant

Assessment Rubric For Letter to Congressional Representative Student Name ___________________________________________________ CATEGORY Position Statement 4 The position statement provides a clear, strong statement of the author\'s position on the topic. Includes 3 or more pieces of evidence (facts, statistics, examples, real-life experiences) that support the position statement. All of the evidence and examples are specific, relevant and explanations are given that show how each piece of evidence supports the author\'s position. The conclusion is strong and leaves the reader solidly understanding the writer\'s position. Effective restatement of the position statement begins the closing paragraph. Author makes no errors in writing mechanics that distract the reader from the content. 3 The position statement provides a clear statement of the author\'s position on the topic. Includes 3 or more pieces of evidence (facts, statistics, examples, real-life experiences) that support the position statement. Most of the evidence and examples are specific, relevant and explanations are given that show how each piece of evidence supports the author\'s position. The conclusion is recognizable. The author\'s position is restated within the first two sentences of the closing paragraph. 2 A position statement is present, but does not make the author\'s position clear. 1 There is no position statement.

Support for Position

Includes 2 pieces of evidence (facts, statistics, examples, real-life experiences) that support the position statement.

Includes 1 or fewer pieces of evidence (facts, statistics, examples, real-life experiences).

Evidence and Examples

At least one of the pieces of evidence and examples is relevant and has an explanation that shows how that piece of evidence supports the author\'s position.

Evidence and examples are NOT relevant AND/OR are not explained.

Closing paragraph

The author\'s position is There is no restated within the closing conclusion - the paragraph, but not near paper just ends. the beginning.

Grammar & Spelling

Author makes 1-2 errors in writing mechanics that distract the reader from the content.

Author makes 3-4 errors in writing mechanics that distract the reader from the content.

Author makes more than 4 errors in writing mechanics that distract the reader from the content.

Student Handout #1: News Segment Viewing Activity Directions: As you watch the video, take notes on the following topics. 1. Explain why the scientists at JPL headquarters were so jubilant after the Mars rover successfully landed on the surface of Mars. 2. Trace the life of Adam Steltzner before he became a scientist. Why did it seem unlikely that he would ever be able to do what he does now? 3. Explain how being naturally curious would help someone study a subject even if they werent a good student. In the case of Steltzner, how did that curiosity help him pass a college physics course when he got an F+ in high school geometry? 4. Describe how the scientists landed the rover on the surface of Mars. As you trace the steps, indicate what might go wrong with any of them. 5. Explain why the landing didnt go exactly as planned, but turned out well anyway. 6. Work with a partner or two and compare and contrast the implications (importance of or consequences of) of answering the center questions in the positive or negative. Respond to the questions in the left and right columns. Questions What are the implications if we are not alone in the solar system? What are the implications if we are alone in the solar system? Are we alone in the solar system, in the universe?

What are the implications if there is or was life on Mars?

What are the implications if there isnt and never was life on Mars? Was there ever life on Mars?

What are the implications if life could or was once supported on Mars? Could life have been supported in the environment of Mars?

What are the implications if life could not or never could be supported on Mars?

7. Explain how exploring the solar system is just an extension of how humans have explored on earth. 8. Explain why having passion for what you do in school and/or life is important for you to be successful. What passions do you have that you would like to turn into a career.

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Student Handout #2: Pros and Cons of Funding NASAs Missions to Mars Name ______________________________________________________________________________ Directions: Conduct research from the Internet and media sources on the costs and benefits of NASAs missions to Mars. Use key words like funding debate on NASA or pro con funding NASA missions. Select at least three sources and complete the graphic organizer below to record your data. Use a separate sheet of paper if needed. Article titles, author, and source (home website or publication) 1. 2. 3. Formulate a position statement (either for or against) funding NASAs missions to Mars

List and explain three points that support your position.

List and explain three arguments in opposition to your position. 1.

1.

2.

2.

3.

3.

Develop a summary statement supporting your position.

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