Task Cards Space Difficult

INVENT SPACE FUELS    
Suppose you are a very smart spacecraft engineer. You have invented a new material to use for the fuel tanks on your spacecraft.  Before you send your new material into the harsh environment of space, you must test it on Earth in a space-like situation.  Instructions are in the SpacePac.  Explain what happened and why.                    




IONS IN ACTION
See ions in action and learn how an ion engine works.  Instructions are in the SpacePac.  Explain what happened and why, and tell how this information is used in space travel.





TEACH MACHINES TO THINK FUZZY.    
Humans understand complex problems with seemingly unquantifiable parameters, then manipulate the input parameters to come up with a probable solution. If that doesn't work, they take the less-than-perfect result as a new input and tweak the answer some more until satisfied with the result. This article and activity show how you could teach a robot to solve problems that way. Figure out the thrust values using fuzzy thinking.  The activity is found in the SpacePac.  Bring the values to the teacher to check on accuracy.
 


DAMPEN THAT DRIFT!  This activity introduces vectors, and their addition and subtraction, without need for geometry, algebra, or trigonometry. To shed light on some of the greatest mysteries of the universe, space scientists and engineers are working to perfect a technology called space interferometry. Several spacecraft carrying telescopes or other types of instruments are flown in formation. They work together as if part of one giant, rigid instrument. This activity article explains a system for eliminating almost all the tiny disturbances in this virtual structure caused by random forces in space. Design a Disturbance Reduction System.  Explain your findings.  Look in the SpacePac for the information you need.


REINVENT TIME.
The material in the SpacePac summarizes the history of timekeeping technology and secondary inventions people used to reconcile our mechanical timekeeping with our master timekeeper, the Sun. Explain the analemma curve and how to use it to calculate the exact time of high noon in any location.



LISTEN FOR RINGS FROM SPACE: 
This activity introduces gravitational waves and the NASA technology being developed to detect them in space. The activity involves building a metaphorical interferometer that demonstrates how the mission (and all interferometry) works.   Use the materials in the SpacePac.  Demonstrate your project.
 


Target Practice: Hit…or Miss? ?
Apply the knowledge you have gained in the previous modules to launch a comet at Jupiter that will either hit the planet or miss it. Set the angle and speed prior to your comets' launch. "Comet News" and the "Gravity Gallery" are both available from the "Hit" and "Miss" modules. Go to: this site and click on “Target Practice.”  Make a graph according to the instructions found in the SpacePac.



Creating a Black Hole on Earth — Using Teachers
In theory, if you could compress enough teachers (mass) into a small volume (a VW bug), their combined gravitational pull would be sufficient that the escape velocity would exceed that required by the speed of light. In essence a black hole would be created. How many teachers with an average mass of 70 kg each would be required?  See the SpacePac for instructions.




Meter Milky Way:  Once you have worked with the scale model activities you should have a better understanding of the vast distances involved and the tremendous variation in size found in celestial objects. Here is another activity that can be used to demonstrate the vastness of space. Pacing off these distances will become an immediate challenge. Begin with your class and a meter stick. Remember 1000 kilometers = 0.6 mile.  Use local maps or GPS to chart the sites of these celestial bodies.  Share the map with the class.
Meter Milky Way   
Object    Scale Distance
The Magellanic Clouds    1.6 meters
Andromeda Galaxy    20 meters
Magellanic Galaxy NGC 2366    100 meters
M100    510 meters
Barred Spiral NGC 1365    600 meters
Antennae Galaxies    630 meters
Cartwheel Galaxy    5,000 meters
Hubble Deep Field    120,000 meters

 



Just How Big is this Place?
Do you have difficulty comprehending just how immense the Universe actually is?   In today's world, travel is made easy by jet aircraft, high-speed trains, and interstates on which cars may travel at high rates of speed.  Let’s figure out how long it would take to reach your relatives all over the universe!  The worksheet is in the SpacePac.

GAMMA RAY BURSTS
What causes gamma-ray bursts?  The first burst was detected over 30 years ago and the mystery that surrounds their origin continues to exist.  We do know that gamma-ray bursts are the most energetic events in the Universe!  Find out more by working through the StarChild Information and Activity Booklet found in the SpacePac.   Share this information with an adult.







TIME THAT PERIOD!
Learn about cycle or periodic behavior, such as the movement of a pendulum or clock, or the shape of the Moon as a function of time.  Three of you will need to complete this experiment.  Directions and worksheets can be found in the SpacePac.  Be sure to collect the rest of the materials from an adult.  After you have finished your experiment and recorded your predictions, show your work to an adult.    Describe how this applies to all movement in space.

Relativity in brief... or in detail
Challenge your brain and go to this website to learn about relativity.  You can go as deeply as you dare!  Share what you have learned with an adult.  Describe it in your Daily Log.
Have earphones ready.
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SIGNPOST FOR E.T.
Time to stand up and be noticed:  Let’s rearrange the stars to create a signpost for E.T.  Read this article in the SpacePac.  Write in your DailyLog your thoughts:  do you agree with his assessment about our radio broadcast for aliens?  Do you think his ideas for star rearrangements are appropriate?  Do you think we should try to contact aliens even if that contact is made long after we exist?  Do you think there is intelligent life beyond our planet?  Share your ideas with an adult.



MI PRIMERA ENCICLOPEDIA DEL ESPACIO
Here is a fun challenge!  This is a book in Spanish, but it is a book whose topic you pretty much know.  Find it in the Guatemala library, then go through this book and piece together as much as you can about what it says.  Use all your thinking tools:  context clues, what you already know about Space and so guess about what might be written, words that look like English words, words that use roots that you might already know, etc.  Then, choose a page and share its content with an adult.  You will be surprised at how much you can read!