• As extra activities to consider for the entire class during a Mission;
• As homework or extra credit assignments for student groups or individuals;
• As a way to challenge the accelerated students in your class
If you have additional Taking Off Ideas, please send them to us at agronauts@ncsu.edu and we will add your idea to the appropriate Mission.
• Have students investigate the visits made to the Moon by humans and satellites: Luna 2 in 1959, Apollo Missions, Clementine in 1994, and the Lunar Rover in 1999.
• The Moon has many names in mythology. Its craters are named after famous figures in science and also for modern space explorers. Have students investigate the mythological figures and the historical figures for which the Moon surface is named.
• Obtain a Moon map large enough to post in your room for viewing. Discuss some of the places where the plant growth chamber could be located.
• Investigate the role of eclipses in different cultures throughout history.
• Based on what you have learned, create a Moon Travel Brochure to try to persuade other people on Earth to visit the Moon.
Mission 2
• Have students investigate spores under a microscope
• Collect and investigate leaves - students can compare and contrast their structures and characteristics
• Create a time-lapse video or slide show of plant movements by manipulating light or gravity orientation and taking pictures of the plant at regular intervals.
• Design original experiments with seeds and seedlings to test other environmental conditions that affect germination and growth. For example, what happens when salt or bleach are added to soil? Use their designs to talk about environmental responsibility.
Mission 3
• Investigate vermicomposting and build a worm bin.
• Students can make compost tea and distribute to parent or community groups to use as a nutritious drink for plants.
• Investigate water gardens and the plants used in them. How are they different from other plants? Where do their nutrients come from?
Mission 4
• Investigate the concept of air pressure on Earth and on the Moon. What happens to plants at different atmospheric pressures?
• Investigate further the concept of gravity on Earth and on the Moon. Research to find out what happens to plants and seedlings in the absence of gravity.
• Investigate Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a mild depression that some people feel in the winter, when there is less light. Are there ways people use or introduce light in the wintertime to help make up for the lowered amounts from the Sun?
• What are some of the items included in survival kits that help people use light and heat or conserve light and heat in an emergency?
• Investigate refraction, the bending of light rays as they pass from one medium to another, to discover even more about the nature of light.
• Investigate further into the science behind how we see rainbows.
• What happens on Earth when the temperature and air conditions do not allow convection to occur?
• How do stars and planets use convection?
• Learn about the Hadley cells, convection cycles in the tropics.
• How is the shape of a candle flame related to convection?
Mission 5
• How do astronauts go to the bathroom, bathe and brush their teeth in space? What kinds of foods do they eat a lot of and why?
• What is a clinostat and how does it help scientists research plants in a microgravity environment? Students can make a clinostat out of a bicycle wheel.
Mission 6
• Have students use artistic methods to create a model or picture of an entire lunar community, including their plant growth chambers.
• Use the NASA website to find other artists depictions of life on other planets and write about or discuss their interpretations.
