Satellites

Read the NASA essay "What Is A Satellite?" designed for grades 3-4. Participate in a classroom discussion about satellites, referring to the text to support discussion points.

Taking on the character of a satellite, write a first-person story telling how you got into space and what you do there. You may wish to view this NASA video to help you get started.

Research a satellite and write a persuasive argument as to why your satellite should be funded. Provide reasons that are supported by facts and details. You may want to use The Great Satellite Search from the Exploratorium as a model for this lesson.

Using an infographic showing the numbers of satellites per country, figure out problems such as these: How many more satellites does the US have than China? How many fewer satellites does Canada have then the US? What is the most common use of satellites, and what is the second greatest use?

Using the lesson Fired Up Over Math: Studying Wildfires from Space, utilize satellite data to find the area of wildfires and burn scars.

Using the Satellite Solver Challenge, calculate how long it will take an Earth satellite to image the entire planet.

Patterns of the motion of the sun, moon, and stars in the sky can be observed, described, and predicted.

Different properties are suited to different purposes.

Examples of properties could include strength, flexibility, hardness, texture, and absorbency.

The patterns of an object's motion in various situations can be observed and measured; when that past motion exhibits a regular pattern, future motion can be predicted from it.

Each force acts on one particular object and has both strength and a direction. Forces that do not sum to zero can cause changes in the object's speed or direction of motion.

Digitized information can be transmitted over long distances without significant degradation. High-tech devices, such as computers or cell phones, can receive and decode information and vice versa.

Different solutions need to be tested in order to determine which of them best solves the problem, given the criteria and the constraints.

Possible solutions to a problem are limited by available materials and resources (constraints.) The success of a designed solution is determined by considering the desired features of a solution (criteria.) Different proposals for solutions can be compared on the basis of how well each one meets the specified criteria for success or how well each takes the constraints into account.

The faster a given object is moving, the more energy it possesses.

Human activities in agriculture, industry, and everyday life have effects on the land, vegetation, streams, ocean, air, and even outer space.

The gravitational force of Earth acting on an object near Earth's surface pulls that object toward the planet's center.

Examples of properties could include color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, and solubility.

Emphasis is on the analysis of data from Earth-based instruments, space-based telescopes, and spacecraft to determine similarities and differences among solar system objects. Examples of scale properties include the sizes of an object's layers, surface features, and orbital radius.

Earth and its solar system are part of the Milky Way galaxy, which is one of many galaxies in the universe.

The solar system consists of a star and a collection of objects, including planets, their moons, and asteroids that are held in orbit around the Sun by its gravitational pull on them.

Emphasis for the model is on gravity as the force that holds together the solar system, and controls orbital motions within them. Examples of models can be physical (such as computer visualizations of elliptical orbits) or conceptual (such as mathematical proportions relative to the size of familiar objects.)

Digitized signals (sent as wave pulses) are a more reliable way to encode and transmit information.

Emphasis is on a basic understanding that waves can be used for communication purposes. Examples could include radio wave pulses and conversion of stored binary patterns to make sound or text on a computer screen.

Gravitational forces are always attractive. There is a gravitational force between any two masses, but it is very small except when one or both of the objects have large mass (such as the Earth and the Sun.)

Examples of evidence for arguments could include data generated from simulations or digital tools and charts displaying mass, strength of interaction, distance from the Sun, and orbital periods of objects within the solar system.

The motion of an object is determined by the sum of the forces acting on it; if the total force on the object is not zero, its motion will change.

Emphasis is on balanced and unbalanced forces in a system, qualitative comparisons of forces, mass and changes in motion, frame of reference, and specification of units.

Examples of practical problems could include the impact of collisions between a meteor and a space vehicle.