Curriculum / ELA / 5th Grade / Alternate Unit 4: Exploring Mars: Spirit and Opportunity / Lesson 1
ELA
Alternate Unit 4
5th Grade
Lesson 1 of 33
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Identify and explain the goal of the Mars Exploration Rover Mission and why it was important.
Book: The Mighty Mars Rovers: The Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity by Elizabeth Rusch pp. 1 – 7
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Tasks that represents the peak thinking of the lesson - mastery will indicate whether or not objective was achieved.
What was the goal of the Mars Exploration Rover Mission? Why was it an important mission?
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Questions about the text that will help guide the students understanding
(Before passing out the books) What do you think the surface of Mars is like? What challenges might robots visiting Mars encounter?
Look at the image on pages 2–3. Based on this image, what do you think the surface of Mars is like? How does this image match with what you visualized Mars to look like?
Based on the image on pages 2–3, what challenges might robots visiting Mars encounter?
Why does the author start by asking questions? What questions does the author ask?
Literary terms, text-based vocabulary, idioms and word parts to be taught with the text
microscopic
adj.
(p. 7)
very tiny; only able to be seen through a microscope
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RI.5.3 — Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.
RI.5.8 — Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which point(s).
Standards that are practiced daily but are not priority standards of the unit
L.5.4.b — Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., photograph, photosynthesis).
RF.5.3 — Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
RF.5.4 — Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
RI.5.1 — Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
RI.5.4 — Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.
RI.5.10 — By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4—5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
SL.5.1 — Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
W.5.10 — Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Next
Explain how Steve’s proposals for missions were different from previous missions to Mars and what problem he was trying to solve.
Standards
RI.5.3RI.5.8
RI.5.3
Explain why it took three years for Steve’s team to create the rovers and describe the steps the team took to ensure the rover was ready for a trip to Mars.
Explain the importance of each stage of the engineering design process and how NASA engineers used the process to prepare for Mars.
Explain what the team did to prepare Spirit for the trip and why they were worried.
Explain the steps necessary for Spirit’s landing and why each step was important.
Use details from the video and sidebars to revise and add additional information about the steps necessary for Spirit’s landing and operation.
RI.5.3SL.5.2W.5.9
2 days
Develop and design an Entry, Descent, & Landing system for a rover using the engineering and design process.
3-5-ETS1-13-5-ETS1-23-5-ETS1-3
Describe where Opportunity landed, what Opportunity found, and how the team responded to Opportunity’s findings.
Analyze the strategies Elizabeth Rusch uses to make science feel like an adventure.
RI.5.8SL.5.1SL.5.4SL.5.5W.5.9
Describe the different accomplishments made by Spirit and Opportunity and what made the accomplishments possible.
Use details from the articles and sidebars to revise and add additional information about the different accomplishments made by Spirit and Opportunity and what made the accomplishments possible.
RI.5.3RI.5.9
Develop and design a communication protocol for rovers using the engineering and design process.
Explain what evidence the author includes to support the idea that math is a critical component of space exploration and engineering.
Explain what initial discovery Opportunity makes inside Endurance Crater and the tools and techniques scientists used.
Debate and analyze unit essential questions.
RI.5.9SL.5.1SL.5.3
Write a multiple-paragraph essay to answer a unit Essential Question.
W.5.2.bW.5.2.cW.5.2.dW.5.2.eW.5.9
4 days
Write a narrative from the perspective of one of the Mars rovers about what it was like to land on Mars using descriptive details from the unit.
L.5.1.cL.5.1.dL.5.2W.5.3W.5.3.aW.5.3.bW.5.3.dW.5.5W.5.8
Analyze the importance of the sun for Spirit’s survival and the steps scientists take to ensure Spirit has access to the sun.
Summarize “Mars Rovers Advance Understanding of the Red Planet”.
RI.5.2RI.5.3
Summarize what happened with Opportunity on his way to Victoria Crater and the steps the team at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) took to remedy the situation, by explaining the relationship between two or more scientific and technical ideas.
Use details from the articles to revise and add additional information about the challenges Opportunity faced when approaching Victoria Crater.
Compare and contrast the points of view from which the Mighty Mars Rovers and the press releases are written, by analyzing multiple accounts of the same topic.
Analyze the strategies Elizabeth Rusch uses to make science feel like an adventure, by explaining how authors use word choice, language, and point of view to support particular points in a text.
RI.5.5RI.5.8
Summarize what Spirit found and how the team responded, by integrating information from several texts on the same topic.
Summarize what happened to Opportunity and how the team responded by integrating information from several texts on the same topic.
Compare and contrast how text structure and point of view influence the mood of a text.
RI.5.5RI.5.9
Analyze and explain the reasons and evidence the author includes to show that the rovers' missions were “more than accomplished.”
RI.5.8
Debate and analyze unit Essential Questions.
SL.5.1SL.5.3W.5.9
W.5.2W.5.2.bW.5.2.cW.5.2.dW.5.2.eW.5.9
Gauge student understanding of unit content and skills with one of Fishtank's unit assessments.
Write an afterword for The Mighty Mars Rovers by writing an informative text to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
RI.5.9W.5.2W.5.2.bW.5.2.cW.5.2.dW.5.2.eW.5.7W.5.8
Using the engineering and design process, develop and design a rover that can travel on Mars and can pick up samples.
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