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Research
Ellis Island Unit
Space Science and Fiction
  • Unit Description
  • Objectives
  • Materials and Resources
  • Unit Lesson Plans
  • Relation to Standards
  • One Computer versus Many


  • Unit Description

        Students conduct research on space science and fiction at the Franklin Institute's exhibition "An Inquirer's Guide to the Universe." After completing their research, students will compose science fiction stories about imaginary planets. Students' stories will incorporate elements of fact and fiction that they gather during their research. Students may choose to publish their stories through the museum's on-line story studios. Up to Contents

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    Objectives

        Students will:

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    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.

    1. Special hardware requirements: None.
    2. Special software requirements: None.
    3. Internet access: A high-speed (greater than 1 MBPS via network) connection.
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    Unit Lesson Plans

    1. Lesson One: Exploring Space Fact. Students visit Websites to conduct research on facts about space and space exploration.

    2. Lesson Two: Exploring Space Fiction. Students visit Websites with information on space fiction and collect information for their stories.

    3. Lesson Three: Creating Space Fiction. Students synthesize aspects of the information that they gathered in the previous two lessons to create stories about imaginary planets. They may choose to publish their works at the Franklin Institute's story studios.

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    Relation to Standards

        We have drawn upon the Mid-Continent Writing Standards and the National Science Education Standards in support of this unit. Up to Contents

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    One Computer versus Many

        The plans for this unit are tailored to fit teaching situations where students have access to several computers with an Internet connection. To accommodate classrooms that do not have access to a computer lab with full Internet connections, students can work in research groups to explore Internet sites and conduct their research.

        If you have only one computer with Internet access, you may choose to do one of the following:

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