Social Studies Activity

Grades 3-5

Background
Throughout its history, NASA has accomplished many great scientific and technological feats in air and space. NASA's Office of History has chronicled these feats and has developed many resources to help students better understand the development of America's space program. NASA notes that "...our exploration of space has taught us to view the Earth, ourselves, and the universe in a new way. While the tremendous technical and scientific accomplishments of NASA demonstrate vividly that humans can achieve previously inconceivable feats, we also are humbled by the realization that Earth is just a tiny 'blue marble' in the cosmos."

Timelines are an effective way to understand the chronology of historical events. This NASA timeline activity offers a unique opportunity to blend a social studies activity with science inquiry. By constructing a visual timeline of NASA missions, students can expand their understanding of significant historical developments in space science. Students can also further explore NASA's history using resources available on the Office of History Web site and other resources.

Social Studies Standard and Benchmark

Historical Understanding
Understands and knows how to analyze chronological relationships and patterns.

Benchmark 2.2: Knows how to construct time lines in significant historical developments that mark at evenly spaced intervals. (Taken from Content Knowledge, A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education, Second Edition, © 1997, 1998, 1999 McREL, by John S. Kendall and Robert J. Marzano.)

Student Product: NASA "Firsts" Timeline

Materials

For each group of students:

• Mission Patches page print out
• Your own "patches" print out
• Masking tape (or craft paper)
• Construction paper
• Tape measure
• scissors
• Markers, colored pencils, or crayons (optional)

Activity

1. Show students an example of a timeline and talk about the events that are listed. Ask students what they notice about the timeline. Accept all answers. Highlight that timelines show important events in the order they occurred and that time is marked in evenly spaced intervals.
2. Ask students to make a straight line 6 feet long using masking tape either on the floor or the wall. (Students could also draw a line on a long piece of craft paper). Have students mark 6 equal parts on the line using tape.
3. Ask students to create a label for each decade beginning with 1950 and tape them in the correct order on the timeline starting on the left side of the line and moving to the right.
4. Ask students to cut out the Mission Patches. Using the NASA "First" chronology, have them tape the patches to one side of the timeline in the correct place.
5. Ask students to create "patches" for their own "firsts." Have them cut out their patches and tape them to the other side of the timeline in the correct place. As students place their patches on the timeline they should tell the others in the group about each event.
6. Review that timelines show important events in the order they occurred and that they mark time at evenly spaced intervals.

Going Further

Ask students to write an essay about important first events in their lives using their timeline.

Assign each group a NASA "First" Mission to research and prepare a report for the class. Information on each of the missions can be found on the NASA History Office's web.

Using the chronologies on the NASA's History Office's web site, ask student to prepare their own timeline of important events in space exploration. The chronologies are available at http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/timeline.html

Resource

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/timeline.html
Chronologies compiled by the NASA's History Office