Topic: Space Race between the USA and the USSR
Objectives
Students will be able to articulate what the space race is and who it was between.
Students will be able to list and describe the factors that impacted the space race.
Students will be able to explain the significance of the space race and the effects
we see of it today.
Students will understand cause and effect relationships and other historical
thinking skills in order to interpret events and issues. (ICC)
Materials
KWL
Web quests
Rubric for journal
Rubric for paper
Strategies and Activities:
Introduction:
1. Complete a KWL chart with the students. What do they know about the USA vs. USSR
space race? What do they want to know?
Possible answers: students know the space race was between the USA and what mostly Russia is
now. Students might know that it was important and it caused a lot of panic and fear. Students
might wonder why it was so important and what happened because of it?
Lesson steps:
1. Web quest
a. Pair students into groups of 3-4
b. Hand out or give address of web quest
1. Tell students to complete the web quest using the following websites
a. http://www.solarviews.com/eng/craft2.htm
b. http://nineplanets.org/
2. Let students work on the web quest for a significant period of time.
3. Assign groups to work together and check their answers.
4. Come back together as a class and discuss any questions that students had
different answers on or weren’t sure about.
2. Movie
a. Instructions: While the video is playing, take notes. What surprised you? What
did you agree or disagree with? Did all the information you heard match with
what you have learned about space?
b. Show a portion of the following movie. Show the last chapter.
c. http://video.pbs.org/video/980042464/?starttime=0
d. Discussion first in small groups and then in large groups: what do you think? Do
you believe all the information? Does it answer your questions? How can you
relate it to what you already know about space?
Possible Answers: I don’t believe it. If America had the technology to be in space first, why
would they wait? It doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Closure:
1. Fill in KWL chart: go back and look at the KWL chart. What questions have been
answered? What did you learn?
2. Journal Response: What do you think of the space race? Was it as big of deal as people
made it at the time? Is there anything in our life today that seems as big and important
as the space race?
Evaluation:
1. Students will be evaluated on their responses to the journal prompt. The response can
be evaluated by the rubric.
2. Students will be evaluated based on the paper they wrote about the space race. The
paper will be evaluated by a rubric.
Assignment:
1. Basic: write a 2 page, double spaced paper on the space race. Use your notes,
textbook, library books, approved websites, etc to answer the following questions:
a. Who was the space race between?
b. List 3 significant events that occurred during the space race. Explain who was
involved (US or USSR) and why it was significant.
c. What is the significance of the space race in our lives today?
1. Extension: in addition to the paper, answer the following question.
a. Pick an event from the space race that interests you and do further research.
Be able to explain who was involved, why it was significant and why you
choose that event.
Resources
http://www.lpb.org/education/classroom/opom/opompdf/001Gr5_6.pdf
http://www.lpb.org/education/classroom/opom/opompdf/001Gr5_6A.pdf
http://www.solarviews.com/eng/craft2.htm
http://nineplanets.org/