As a science educator, I teach many different topics. One of my favorite topics to teach is space. My students always seem to have a vested interest in learning about space and all the current happenings with it. I would love to learn how to incorporate more literacy into space education to enhance my students understanding and knowledge about it. The topic of space has so much information and is a science that we are learning more and more about every day. With the possibility of landing on another planet through space exploration in the next 10 years, it is so exciting! This blog will allow me to find different resources related to space education and literacy.
What do I already know about space? I know the science of celestial bodies and the formation of them. I understand the planets and their orbit around the sun. One of my favorite things to “know” is about space exploration. We will be inhabiting Mars within the next 10 years and having “floating colonies” around Venus as well. There are commercial space flights and hotels in the works. My knowledge of space is not vast (see what I did there?), but I know enough to help my students explore the topic while I teach it. One of the hardest things about teaching it is that there is so much that is unknown about space and it isn’t something you can “touch” or visit!
There are many things I still want to learn to better facilitate space lessons for my students. First, I want to focus on Earth to get a better sense of why and how we are here. This will give my students an understanding of their own backyard. Next, I want to know more about space exploration and the science behind space shuttles. How do they get there? With the current state of our planet and its resources, it is inevitable that we will need to look at other places to colonize. The planets themselves fascinate me and I know the basics of each and their placement in space, but I would like to know more. One thing I would also like to dig more into the atmosphere of each planet. How is it different from our own? When we look at Mars, for example, how is the atmosphere so vastly different from Earth’s atmosphere?
I have found many resources to include when it comes to space:
– National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the United States
- Book: Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years, By: Stacy Macnulty
https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-250-10808-1
-A comedic children’s book written from the Earth’s point of view that discusses the history of the earth.
- Newsela https://newsela.com/
-A data base of current events stories tailor-made for classroom use. Students can research current articles on space exploration.
- Discovery Ed- www.DiscoveryEducation.com
-Sandards-based digital content for K-12 classrooms that has multimedia content related to science and other subjects. (videos, interactives, digital textbooks, audio, text, etc.)
- Teacher Tube! www.teachertube.com
– A free community for sharing instructional videos and content for teachers and students.
- Scholastic https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/activities/teaching-content/nasa-challenging-space-frontier/
– Scholastic always has great resources for teachers and students. In this resource, students learn about the history of space exploration through reading and writing.
Journey to Space with Mack 
Hey there! I REALLY enjoyed reading your second blog post. I think space is such an interesting subject to learn about (and also something I do not have much knowledge about). Space is such a mysterious thing that its impossible for anyone to learn absolutely everything about it. However, with the amount of research you have already put into finding literature regarding the subject, it’s a great amount for teaching! I am so eager to read through all of your pieces, and learn much more about space in general through your blog!
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Hi Nicole!
I really like your inquiry topic. I think space is such an interesting topic. My thought is that even if a student has a hard time with science, they would be more inclined to get excited about learning about space. We can all look up into the sky at some point and imagine what might be out there. I look forward to learning along with you through your blog! 🙂
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This blog post reminded me why I liked science in high school. (Not so much when I got into college.) It was due to the time I spent reading sci-fi books about aliens and outer space. Also my brothers and I would find these weird kid science magazines and try out the latest kitchen experiment and make a complete mess of my mom’s kitchen. I think your passion and curiosity as a student are what makes you an amazing and inspirational teacher.
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What an awesome topic to explore. I have always loved looking up at the sky and seeing all the stars, meteor showers, solar eclipse, Mars, etc throughout my time and I cannot wait to hear more about your plan to teach about space in your classroom. I was never good at constellations but I love hearing about how deep space is and all the new discoveries of black holes, super giants, solar flares, etc. so again great topic choice. The fact that you want to incorporate literature with your space lessons is also a creative idea that will keep your students in tune to your lesson and eager to learn more!
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