Research
Exploring Space Fact and Fiction Unit
Lesson Two
Exploring Space Fiction
- Grade Level: Middle School, High School
- Subject Area: Language Arts and Science
Brief Description
Students will visit Websites
with information on space fiction and collect information for their stories
Objectives
Students will:
- Gather and use information for research purposes.
- Develop the skills to allow them to become independent inquirers about the natural world.
- Understand the place of the earth in the solar system.
Materials and Resources
In developing our lessons and activities, we made some
assumptions about the hardware
and software that would be available in the classroom for teachers who visit the
LETSNet Website. We assume that teachers using our Internet-based lessons or
activities have a computer with the necessary hardware components (mouse, keyboard, and
monitor) as well as a World Wide Web browser. In the section below, we specify any "special"
hardware
or software
requirements for a lesson or activity (in addition to those described above)
and the level of Internet access required to do the activity.
-
Special hardware requirements: None.
-
Special software requirements: None.
-
Internet access: A high-speed (greater than 1 MBPS via network) connection.
Activity Description
Pre-activity preparation
Have students read some samples of science fiction to familiarize
them with the genre.
Activity
- Engage students in a discussion of what makes something fictional. Extend this discussion to
what makes a literary work of science fiction. Where possible, have students draw distinctions
between elements of scientific fact and elements of scientific fiction. (Examples of this may include
the presence of computers or robots with capabilities not yet available. The factual element is that
computers exist, the fictional aspect is the capabilities ascribed to them in the story.)
- Allow students to visit the Websites on space fiction that are
listed below in our Internet Resources. While they visit the site, students should compile examples
of space fiction that they encounter.
Internet Resources
-
An Inquirer's Guide to the Universe
http://sln.fi.edu/planets/planets.html
The Franklin Institute's Exhibit that probes the fact and fiction of space and
space travel.
- Space Science Fiction.
[http://sln.fi.edu/planets/sci-fict.html]
This is a set of Web resources provided at the
Franklin Institute's Exhibit
An Inquirer's Guide to the Universe. These resources are at a level appropriate
for most students.
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