Lunar Survivor

The Apollo Lunar missions were an important part of man's exploration of space. In the future the Moon may be a very important base for exploration into deep space. The lessons included in the "curriculum" section are intended to help students explore the Lunar Module, Apollo Missions, and the Moon.

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Survival on the Moon

Objectives -Overview To acquaint students with the Moon and the environmental conditions that the astronauts and those working to send humans to the Moon had to consider and face. To stimulate student thinking and promote group interaction. To use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information. NETS Standards Categories supported 5, 6 Activities 1. Discuss the Moon and the conditions which astronauts would face including atmosphere (or lack of it), temperature, light, surface features, etc. Using this activity should stimulate student thinking about what their life might be like on the Moon and how the differences in the environment on the Moon would affect daily activities. 2. Have students explore several sites which cover Moon conditions. Many are listed in the Teacher Resources section and compare the environmental conditions on Earth and the Moon. Examples of some factors to consider include: Atmospheric Pressure Organisms - plant and animal Temperature Weather Gravity Atmosphere or Oxygen available Surface activity such as quakes, volcanos, meteorite strikes Water 3. Print out the activity sheet titled "Survival on the Moon" (or use the on-line version of the Survival Activity). Since reality TV and survivor programs are so popular these days you may want to set up the activity similar to the show with teams and allow them to name themselves. Each team could be a crew of a different Lunar Module that becomes disabled. Each crew would be left with the same set of useable supplies. Then have teams decide on the supplies they will take and justify their choices at a "tribal council." Although there are no real right or wrong answers there are items that would obviously be more valuable and some that would not be useful at all given the environment on the Moon. Evaulation of final team lists would be viewed in this light with the justifications given to item rankings. See item #6. 4. See what addition items students feel would be essential or a welcomed addition to the ones included on the list. 5. Students might enjoy creating a script or narration describing their trip and emergency which led to their "crash" on the Moon, detailing what went wrong. Having some information about the Lunar Module would help them develop realistic scenarios. 6. When the groups have completed the activity you can have them compare their answers and justifications to those done by NASA.