Introduction
Task
Process
Evaluation
Conclusion
Credits
Are you interested in the solar system?
Have you ever wanted to travel into outer space?
Do you think it would be cool to live on another planet?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, NAHS wants you! NAHS stands for the National Association for Humans in Space. They want to build the first human city in the solar system. The city will be called Alpha. They do not care what the cost or how long it takes. However, they need to determine the appropriate site of their new city. That is where your assignment begins.
NAHS wants to send you and four other team members into the solar system to determine the appropriate site. They will provide you with the materials that you may need as long as you present them with a great site for Alpha upon your return to Earth.
Get ready to go! You are blasting off today...
Task:
The ultimate task of your trip is to determine the perfect site in the solar system for NAHS to build Alpha. This trip is free and you will be reimbursed for all expenses. However, NAHS requires two tasks of you upon your return.
The first task is to present your findings to NAHS in a presentation to be done one week after your return. This presentation should include the following information about the planet you have chosen for Alpha:
- Your Planet’s Physical Features:
- Composition: This will tell about what makes up your planet.
- Weather: What is the weather on your planet?
- Atmosphere: What is the atmosphere of your planet?
- Moons: How many—if any—moons does your planet have?
- The length of days and years
- The force of gravity
- Resources (such as water or metals for mining)
- Any other notable characteristics that you wish to include
- What is the size of your planet?
- Where is your planet located in our solar system?
Your Planet’s Ability to Support Life:
- Can your planet support life?
- What is needed on your planet for survival
- How do you plan to compensate (make do) for conditions that are not suitable for sustaining life?
Other Needed Information :
- How old would you be on this planet?
- How much would you weigh on this planet?
The NAHS has provided you with the following steps to help you accomplish the task.
Step 1: Your teacher will assign your travel team, which will consist of five members.
Step 2: Read the background information provided for you by your teacher. This information should give you an idea about which planet(s) your team might want to investigate further.
Step 3: Conduct more research on the planet(s) your team feels is the best place for Alpha.
Step 4: Now that you have returned to Earth, discuss with your team where you think Alpha should be built based on the information that you gathered from your travels. Research should be carefully looked at to determine what planet would make the best site for Alpha.
Step 5: Once a site has been chosen, create a presentation to present to NAHS on the site and why your group chose this site. NAHS has provided your group with the following guidelines for creating your presentation.
- Use great detail to describe the site for Alpha including the atmosphere, soil, surrounding areas, gravity, etc. You need to present all of the information your group researched about your planet.
- Provide vivid pictures of the site.
- Explain why your group chose this site and why it is the best planet for Alpha.
- The main goal is to persuade people to leave their homes on Earth and relocate on Alpha.
Keep in mind the following essential questions while you are completing your research:
- What were the pros and cons of your planet?
- Why should this be the site for Alpha?
- Subscribtion Databases (considered text resources)
- EBSCO Host Kids Search
- Thomson-Gale Junior Edition K12
- Britannica Online
- Citation Machine (creates your citations)
- Web Sites (pre-selected for you)
- Ask (a student friendly search engine)
- OPAC - search for keywords such as the name of your planet.
- Encyclopedias (World Book especially)
Evaluation:
See the Rubric for this project to self-evaluate your progress.
Conclusion:
You should now be an expert on your planet and have the skills needed to locate resources, organize information and present a compelling argument to an audience. You did a great job!
Credits:
This webquest was adapted, by Mark Mortensen, 6th grade science teacher from a project created by Betty Fortna, 6th grade science teacher, at Scotia-Glenville Middle School. Web sites were selected as a joint effort between the teachers and Debbie Collins, LMS.
All graphics images are from Microsoft Office Clipart.