Relating Space Travel to Other Modes of Transportation
Grades satisfied are 6-9 Background Traveling often requires strangers to share very small quarters and to deal with accommodations very different from what they would normally prefer. Certainly life on the ISS requires passengers to make many adjustments. Students will familiarize themselves with living conditions on the ISS by visiting the “Living” section of the website.
Objective Students will be able to compare various modes of travel from the past to the present. -Students will learn what living on the ISS requires.
Material Access to www - http://www.history.rochester.edu/canal/bib/abbott/
Procedure After learning about life on the ISS, Students should read about traveling on an Erie Canal barge in the early 1800’s at http://www.history.rochester.edu/canal/bib/abbott/ , giving special attention to the chapter entitled “Night.” Students compare the living conditions on the Erie Canal barge with life on the space station. Teachers may choose to have students discuss this orally or write their responses in paragraph form.
Discussion questions:
-What are some of the similarities between traveling on a barge canal and living on the ISS?
-What similarities do the modes of transportation share? -What inconveniences are involved in each mode? -Which mode of transportation would you prefer? Assessment 1. Did students make comparisons among the various modes of transportation? 2. Did students explain why one mode of transportation might be preferable over another? 3. Did students learn what life on the ISS involves? 4. Were students able to make plausible prediction about improvements in space travel?
Extension Students may investigate other modes of transportation used by explorers and travelers during the westward expansion of the first half of the 1800’s. For example, they may investigate traveling/living conditions of those traveling the Mormon Trail using handcarts, the Oregon-California trail using covered wagons, for those carrying the mail for the Pony Express, or riding the Transcontinental Railroad.
Discussion questions for Extension:
-What are the hardships travelers encountered? -How do these compare with each other and to life on the International Space Station? Which mode of transportation would you prefer, and why? -Given the inconveniences of life on the ISS, predict what improvements or conveniences researchers may develop in the next ten years in order to make life for astronauts easier while traveling in space.