To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before...
An Internet WebQuest for High School Science
Students
Created by Mr. Chris
| To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before... An Internet WebQuest for High School Science
Students |
|
Introduction
You and your team of three other students have been chosen for mankind's greatest
mission. Your will travel the stars in search of new life on planets that are
millions of light years away. Don't worry about how long this is going to take
to fly this mission. NASA has just built this really fast spaceship that can
get you from one side of the known universe to the other faster then you can
finish reading this assignment.
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The Quest
Your team has three weeks to follow the links to find that information and return
to earth with your reports. Each member of your team will be assigned to a single
mission job. We need one mission pilot, one mission biologist, one mission chemist,
and a mission astrophysicist. Each team member needs to return with a well-written
report for each planetary system you listed. It is very well known that we have
very little information about what is happening on these planets so I will be
counting on your imaginations to fill in any missing pieces. This does not mean
make everything up. I still expect your reports to be based in known scientific
facts. Pick four newly discovered planetary systems that are not our solar system,
and find all know information about them.
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The Process and Resources
First everyone needs to figure out which of these newly discovered planetary
systems you want to explore and discover what secrets they hold. Your mission
plan will be due by the end of the second day of class. I want to know which
systems you are going to and which planets in the system you will be visiting.
This link will take you to your list of possible planetary systems you can choose
to visit. These are the only places that you can go. Feel free to visit every
link to find out which planetary systems you wish to travel to.
Once you have figured out which systems you wish to go to, you need to decide
what you are going to spend your time looking at. This means that you will have
a few things to do once you get to your planetary system. First you much choose
a satellite probe to launch. Be very careful about which probes you choose to
take with you. You also need to tell me what the probes mission is. Is it just
sailing along hoping to run into something, orbiting a planet, what? Here is
a link to several different kinds of satellites. Choose the one that best fits
your mission goals.
Now that you have your satellite in place, you need to tell me if you are going
to try a Lander mission to any of the planets in the system. This can be a very
dangers thing to attempt. You are not required to land on any planets, you can
close to send out a second satellite probe instead. However, you can learn far
more about the planet just by being there. How much more can you learn about
your friends backyard by going there rather then them just showing you a picture
of it?
If you choose to land on a planet, here is your list of Landers to choose form.
* List of Landers
Next, every week for the next four weeks, every member of your team will turn
in his or her report for the planet that you have just visited. Each report
will be two full typed pages in standard format. This is only a rough draft.
I will return reports as fast as I possible can. You only have to write one
2-page report; I have to read everybody's 2-page report. Hopefully you will
have your reports back within 48 hours of when you turned it in. Make sure that
you credit every source that you use, no cut and paste text reports, images
are ok if you tell me where you found them, and SAVE YOUR WORK!
Then after your team has returned home from your mission you will resubmit your
final draft reports from every planet from every team member and present it
to the class. I will help line up any A/V equipment that you need if I can get
it at all.
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Phase 1 - Background: Something
for Everyone
Every member of the team has been selected for this mission because they have
shown a great deal of understanding of basic scientific principles. NASA has
chosen your team from countless millions of teams WORLDWIDE for this special
mission. You have shown that you have the right "stuff" that NASA
is looking for. You will need to recall on everything you have learned over
the last year, from every subject that we have studied and possibly things you
have learned form other classes. These web sites will help you find any basic
background information about everything that you think you are missing.
* Discovery Channel Homepage
* High School Hub
* NASA Homepage
* Solarviews.com
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Phase 2 - Looking Deeper from Different Perspectives
The four members of your team will each be responsible for a different basic
area of science every week. Every week however you must switch jobs with someone
else. You cannot have the same job twice. Everyone must have every job once.
This will be what shows me how well you know each general topic that we have
covered over the year.
Each team member will be given a map of every planet that you choose to visit.
Maps will be color coded to give you clues as to what you will find on these
planets. You will have to work together to figure out what is there. It is not
cheating to help others figure out what is on their maps, remember you are all
on a team and being graded on how well you work as a team, as well as individuals.
Each team member has something to tell the other team members about their reports.
The biologist needs to talk to the chemist, the pilot to the astrophysicist,
the astrophysicist to the chemist, the biologist to the pilot, you get the idea.
If you work together as a team, you will find out more about your planet as
a whole, and will be less likely to miss important information. Remember that
there is a very real danger in space. If you do anything that could get your
team killed or hurt, it will reflect on your grade.
Mission Pilot
Your job is to plot the course to each new planet and to inform the team just
how far away for earth each planet is. You also need to find the safest way
between each planet. If you do something that would get your team killed, you
grade will reflect that as well. Do not try to fly your ship near any BLACK
HOLES or to close to a White Dwarf star. You will also be responsible for finding
out what equipment every other team member will need and what will fit in your
shuttle's cargo bay. You will also need to know a little about what type of
Lander you will need for each planet. The following link will take you to the
list of questions your report will need to answer for every system you visit.
Here is example of what you first report should look like.
Here are a few other links that will help you to decide what is the best course
of action for your team to take to get to and once you arrive in the planetary
system you have chosen. Be careful about where you get your information. If
you want to look else where, that is fine as well. Make sure you can trust the
source of that information. You will be risking the lives of your team with
that information.
.
* NASA Homepage
* Solarviews.com
Mission Biologist
Your report will include a brief description of the life that might or might
not be present on the planet you are visiting. Remember that fossils were alive
a long time ago. If you get a planet that has life, you get to use your imagination
to tell us what they look like. I want to know everything that you learned about
them from what they look like to what they eat to where they live and what eats
them. The following link will take you to the list of questions your report
will need to answer for every system you visit.
Here is example of what you first report should look like.
Here are a few other links that will help you to decide what is the best course
of action for your team to take to get to and once you arrive in the planetary
system you have chosen. Be careful about where you get your information. If
you want to look else where, that is fine as well. Make sure you can trust the
source of that information. You will be risking the lives of your team with
that information.
Mission Chemist
As the chemist you will report on the chemical make up of everything on the
planet. We need to know what is in the air, the dirt, and if there is any water?
Your team will be counting on you to tell them that it is safe to land, and
what they need to wear if they go down to the planet. You will also be in charge
of who long it is safe to stay on any planet, and we need to know why you can
stay for that amount of time. The following link will take you to the list of
questions your report will need to answer for every system you visit. The following
link will take you to the list of questions your report will need to answer
for every system you visit.
Here is example of what you first report should look like.
Here are a few other links that will help you to decide what is the best course
of action for your team to take to get to and once you arrive in the planetary
system you have chosen. Be careful about where you get your information. If
you want to look else where, that is fine as well. Make sure you can trust the
source of that information. You will be risking the lives of your team with
that information.
* The Chemistry Coach
* Tanner's General Chemistry Site
Mission Astrophysicist
You reports will tell us what kind of a system the planet is in, how many stars
and planets, black holes, or lots of asteroid activity. What kind of stars and
planets and how you know this. You will also be the one that everyone blames
if you give the pilot bad directions or advice about how to get to the next
planet. The following link will take you to the list of questions your report
will need to answer for every system you visit. The following link will take
you to the list of questions your report will need to answer for every system
you visit.
* Mission Astrophysicist Questions
Here is example of what you first report should look like.
* Mission Astrophysicist Example
Here are a few other links that will help you to decide what is the best course
of action for your team to take to get to and once you arrive in the planetary
system you have chosen. Be careful about where you get your information. If
you want to look else where, that is fine as well. Make sure you can trust the
source of that information. You will be risking the lives of your team with
that information.
* Physics Web
* Erik Max Francis Physics Page
* Solarviews.com
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Phase 3 - Debating, Discussing,
and Reaching Consensus
I suggest that your team spends at least half the time going over the information
on the web sites about the planets and the other half getting the reports written.
Use the links to other sites to compare the information you get form the new
planets with that of the ones in our solar system.
Carefully go over every little detail, if you can find an error that I made
in the data, your team will get extra credit. But do not spend any extra time
looking for errors; a good team report is worth a lot more then any bit of extra
credit.
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Here once again is every site that I have linked to for this project.
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Phase 4 - The Real World Practical
Application of all of this
So why do we need to learn about this? What good can possible come from all
of this work? This is a chance for me to see what you have learned over the
year and how well you can apply what you have learned over the year.
What good is it for me to fill you head with nine months of facts about people
that have dies years ago and numbers that you will barely remember in a year.
This assignment will help you remember the information longer and force you
to use it over and over again.
The more you work with information the better you understand it and more you
are willing to use it later on.
After you have finish and turned in your reports, I also would like a short
paper, half page or so, from everyone about what they liked about the project
and what they did not like about the project. This will not affect your grade
in anyway at all. I want feedback that will make this better for the next group
of explorers that goes out in to the great unknown. Your parents are also free
to comment about the project as well.
Your Contact is: the designated contact
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This is your big chance to leave your mark on mankind. Your team will be the first humans to leave your solar system ever! Show us what you are made of and record everything that see and learn about. Keep go records about everything you find out there. And above all else, have fun. This is the last assignment of the year.
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Content by Mr. Chris, bonusflow@netscape.net
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Created 2004 at Western oregon University for CSE 425 & CSE 424