Space Camp

[sheila]

Here are some things that I've found that would be good for a space camp... I haven't put together a unit plan for it yet but I figured some of you may be interested in having this as a camp unit. What I have here are for mixed levels so check them out and see what fits best for you. Please feel free to post anything that you may have found so we can really build this one up. Enjoy~!

http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/category/topics/space
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/index.html
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/index.html
http://www.childrensmuseum.org/cosmicquest/index.html
http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Sintro.htm
http://www.mreclipse.com/
http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/home.php
http://www.explorelearning.com/index.cfm?method=cResource.dspResourceCatalog (This one is kinda cool because you can select your grade levels and also get actual moving visuals of how things work.)
http://spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov/en/kids/index.shtml
http://atozteacherstuff.com/Themes/Space/


p.s. Also check out... http://waygook.org/index.php/topic,2019.0.html
http://waygook.org/index.php/topic,416.0.html
http://waygook.org/index.php/topic,932.0.html
since I don't want to steal anyone's contributions already made.

Also, apparently there's a space center in Goheung. You may be able to take a field trip there if you live nearby.  Otherwise, check out some of the local universities in your area. Some may have a planetarium style thing (can't remember the word) as Kyunghee University does here in Suwon.

[sheila]

and some more...

[sheila]

but wait... there's more.

[sheila]

and even more...

[suzettec]

oh my... 

This is great!

[teacher_del]

Naver's dictionary gives me 플라네타륨, 별 비춤돔, and 천체 투영관.  There are apparently planetariums in Gwacheon (National Science Museum -- close to Seoul), Gangjin, and Jeju (on Hallasan), and probably more...

If you have a budget for buying English-language story books, I'm a huge fan of The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System for more advanced elementary kids and accurate science, and possibly How to Catch a Star (Oliver Jeffers) for a more whimsical story and simpler language.

[sheila]

Here are some other resources that might be helpful...

http://funschool.kaboose.com/globe-rider/space/
http://funschool.kaboose.com/globe-rider/aliens/index.html
http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/games.shtml
http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/space/links.htm
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/MPF/mpf/education/cutouts.html for a higher level model activity
http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/ very cool activities.
http://www.first-school.ws/theme/mini_theme/outerspace.htm for younger students
http://www.tooter4kids.com/Space/Spaceindex.htm good stuff
http://www.coloring-page.net/space.html great for coloring pages or explanations of certain concepts.  Love these pics.
http://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/color.html

[sheila]

Here is my middle school unit plan for this... the kids loved it.  However, it is for high level students so good for high middle school and high school.  Most of the worksheets that I used I have already posted on here.  Otherwise, if you'd like something that you see on there, just let me know and I'll send you an email with all of the files that I have. Also, here... http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/nasaeclips/index.html is the link for the NASA clips that I mentioned on the unit plan.  It gave the students a really good visual of what the worksheets were covering, plus some.

There is also a space vocabulary introduction powerpoint. It goes well with a game that can be found on here under Grade 3 Lesson 10 Life in Space. 

The next is a quiz game which is based on the full week's curriculum.  The students really had a good time with this because they could look up the answers in their packets. 

*k, sorry, the other things will be up tomorrow since one of my students took my pencil case with my USB in it. damn!

[sheila]

Okay, here is the unit plan... finally. As you can see, there was a lot of stuff planned out but we didn't get to some of the materials.  I think this is the camp my students enjoyed the most, especially the scavenger hunt and trivia game.  Hope you guys have the same luck if you try this one out~!

[Artist Formerly Known as Moderator Jason]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS88G5WBcfQ

I  know its not much, but my kids enjoyed this video, it shows the scale of us versus planets and stars

[lizteacher10]

Heres a real low level PPT on the planets, there is enough material here, but I figured why not. I cant remember if I created this or just edited it. Thanks to whomever gave it to me, if thats the case.

[Catfish]

An OuterSpace Bomb Game

Grade: Middle School 1 and 2
It covers Planets, constellations, and has some corny jokes thrown in for fun.  I had 3 hours with the students so the first hour was spent on going over the planets, and constellations.  I did not tell them the jokes before hand (there were 3 or 4 kids who could figure them out). 

[robertheath111]

Made some changes to PPTs I found on I think this message or another one similar.  I used the first one with my low level after school class, basically simplifying things a bit and ensuring all the answers to the quiz are well covered.  The second two go together for a teacher lesson once again ensuring all the answers the quiz PPT appear on the presentation PPT.  Enjoy and thanks for the original uploads.

[lizardflix]

Today I was looking for info on an egg drop I want to do for camp and ran across this website http://spaceday.org/ that has free materials for putting together space related events for kids.  I just wanted to pass it along in case anybody wants to check it out.  I just skimmed and will go back to it tomorrow. 

I'm uploading two documents I got from it just as an fyi. 

[Robotka]

Last year, I had my first public elementary school summer camp, and I decided to go with the theme "Space Camp."  I taught only 5th/6th graders from my regular after school class for 4 periods a day, but usually only about 8-12 students showed up per day.  I'm only including the basic outline of the 2 week camp, since after Day 1, I ended up changing a lot of my original ideas.  The crafts/games were the biggest hit, so I usually took more than one period to complete them.

I found a lot of resources online, including the following:

Tons of space-themed ppts, a few of which I modified to fit my students' level better:
http://science.pppst.com/space.html
Helpful links for teaching science (not just astronomy):
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/guides/Science.xa_1.html
One of many useful NASA websites:
http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/menu/parents-and-educators/
Another NASA website:
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/index.html

My 2 week super-basic lesson plan is attached to this post.  After that, I'll try to post all my materials for each day of camp together.

[Robotka]

DAY 1: Our Solar System

Attached files (zipped for ease of downloading):
Welcome to Space Camp Day 1 ppt - I used this at the beginning of 1st period  just to start things off, and had a slightly different version each day of the camp to introduce that day's sub-theme.
What is Astronomy drawing worksheet - Basically a big blank box for students to draw or write whatever they can think of about astronomy. Some of my students' answers were funny but unfortunately I didn't keep them.
Solar System ppt - Really easy intro to the planets' names in English and few other objects in our solar system. Also includes some review words, such as prepositions and ordinal numbers (1st-8th).
A couple other ppts that I downloaded and probably modified slightly (Earth in Space and Gravity)
Outer Space Word Search and Planetary Anagrams handouts
Solar System Facts pdf (the first page has a link to the site I downloaded it from) - I also had a worksheet to go with this, but it was tooo boring so I didn't include it here.
Two different craft ideas, depending on how much time you want to put into the craft:
Solar System Mobile would just be for each student to make and take home (I didn't use it, but my co-teacher did with her 3rd/4th graders).
Big Planets for 3D models - My co-teacher had named our 6 groups after five planets and the sun at the beginning of the year. I decided we needed signs so the students would stop being confused over what group they were actually in. I copied the images from the Solar System Coloring Book. The planets themselves were pretty easy to make (just color the 4 copies and fold in half, then glue the backs together). Since I made the sun bigger, it was kind of annoying and the group that made it complained a lot. (If I do it again, I'll probably leave off the sun.)  I didn't actually use the coloring book itself in class.

[Robotka]

Here are photos of the finished 3D planets. I also printed out the names and laminated them (since the name of the planet was also the corresponding group's name). I hung it from the ceiling with fishing line, which I somehow managed to find at a little stationary store without knowing what it's called in Korean.

I recommend using a lot of tape or staples, since they tend to try and fall down a lot.

[Robotka]

Here are some more links that I used during class on Day 1.

Space Your Face (funniest one is Mars, especially if you set it up to use your photo – it takes a long time to load, though):
http://spaceyourface.nasa.gov

Compare the size of the planets (and sun and moon):
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/messenger/psc/PlanetSize.html

Space Matching Game (word to picture): http://www.fupa.com/play/Education-free-games/outer-space-matching-game.html *a little slow to load, and I had to let the students come up and use the classroom computer to select their cards since they don't have numbers on them

Videos:

Animaniacs “Our Solar System” song – I just ignored the "Uranus" joke at the end – also still includes Pluto but whatever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8eFFnJsCjs

Planets’ Sizes Comparison video (there are tons of versions of this, but I picked this one because it’s short and has the names of each planet):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ3-QKL7nbA&feature=related

[Robotka]

DAY 2: Big numbers and distances

I actually had too many materials planned for Day 1, so I used the Gravity and Earth in Space ppts (already posted with Day 1) on Day 2.

Here are the links first, since the video (or videos, if you like) was sort of the basis for the whole lesson idea.  I actually showed a sped-up version of the original Powers of 10 video (without sound) and just talked over it.  The actual dialog might be too hard/boring for students.

The Powers of 10 (the original film showing the relative size of everything):
http://powersof10.com/film
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0&feature=player_embedded

Cosmic Voyage (orders of magnitude, like Powers of 10, but newer and prettier):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxXf7AJZ73A&feature=related

This website is basically an interactive version of the above videos:
Secret Worlds: The Universe Within – click on “manual” to view at your own pace and have the students talk about it:
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/

Oh, and while you're at it, you might as well show the Simpsons intro that was inspired by Powers of 10.  It's included in the zip file, since I couldn't find it online (except super-low-quality graphics).

Also included in the zip file are the Day 2 intro ppt (Welcome to Space Camp), Big Numbers ppt (up to a googol) and Big Numbers Matching Game ppt (match the Arabic number to the word - my students loved matching games), a Big Numbers Word Search which the students have to write out the spelling of the numbers and find the words in the puzzle, and a Powers of 10 quiz, which only works if you have a color printer or show the worksheet on the computer so they can see the colors (we ended up checking the answers as a whole class).  The quiz was from the official Eames website (see 1st link above), but it disappeared about a week after I used it (so I was really glad I copied all the images and saved it manually as a Word doc).  The answers are on p. 2, along with info I copied from the website at that time.

I didn't have a big activity or game on Day 2, since we also had to practice reading and memorizing the I Love Hwaseong book for the Hwaseong English Contest which was held in October.

[Robotka]

I also showed a couple Modest Mouse videos, because I love them.  My students hated it, but maybe your students won't...?

Never Ending Math Equation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcMQ7_vkLDg


Gravity Rides Everything:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqtXDc_VFKY


I'll try to get the rest of the materials (Day 3-10) up soon.  (I have to check the links and make sure I still think the ppts look good.)