Curriculum / ELA / 5th Grade / Alternate Unit 4: Exploring Mars: Spirit and Opportunity / Lesson 7
ELA
Alternate Unit 4
5th Grade
Lesson 7 of 33
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Use details from the video and sidebars to revise and add additional information about the steps necessary for Spirit’s landing and operation.
Book: The Mighty Mars Rovers: The Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity by Elizabeth Rusch — pages 28 and 30
Video: “How We Landed on Mars with NASA Spirit” by The Azza
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Tasks that represents the peak thinking of the lesson - mastery will indicate whether or not objective was achieved
Use details from the video and the sidebars to revise your target task from lesson 5. What additional information did you learn about the steps necessary for Spirit’s landing and operation?
An example response to the Target Task at the level of detail expected of the students.
Questions about the text that will help guide the students understanding
Text: Determine a main idea of the section “Naming Names.” How is the main idea supported by key details?
Text: Determine a main idea of the section “How to Drive a Rover.” How is the main idea supported by key details?
Text: Determine a main idea of the section “Chatting with the Rovers.” How is the main idea supported by key details?
Video: What did you see, hear and learn from the video that provided additional information about additional information about Spirit's landing?
Assess student understanding and monitor progress toward this lesson's objective with an Exit Ticket.
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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.
SL.5.2 — Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
W.5.9 — Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Standards that are practiced daily but are not priority standards of the unit
RI.5.1 — Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
RI.5.5 — Compare and contrast the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in two or more texts.
RI.5.6 — Analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic, noting important similarities and differences in the point of view they represent.
W.5.4 — Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1—3 above.)
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.
Lesson 6
Lesson 8
Identify and explain the goal of the Mars Exploration Rover Mission and why it was important.
RI.5.3 RI.5.8
Explain how Steve’s proposals for missions were different from previous missions to Mars and what problem he was trying to solve.
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.
RI.5.3 SL.5.2 W.5.9
Project – 2 days
Develop and design an Entry, Descent, & Landing system for a rover using the engineering and design process.
3-5-ETS1-1 3-5-ETS1-2 3-5-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.5.8 SL.5.1 SL.5.4 SL.5.5 W.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.5.3 RI.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.
Discussion
Debate and analyze unit essential questions.
RI.5.9 SL.5.1 SL.5.3
Writing – 2 days
Write a multiple-paragraph essay to answer a unit Essential Question.
W.5.2.b W.5.2.c W.5.2.d W.5.2.e W.5.9
Narrative Writing – 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.c L.5.1.d L.5.2 W.5.3 W.5.3.a W.5.3.b W.5.3.d W.5.5 W.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.5.2 RI.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.5.5 RI.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.5.5 RI.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.5.1 SL.5.3 W.5.9
W.5.2 W.5.2.b W.5.2.c W.5.2.d W.5.2.e W.5.9
Assessment
Informative Writing – 4 days
Write an afterword for The Mighty Mars Rovers by writing an informative text to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
RI.5.9 W.5.2 W.5.2.b W.5.2.c W.5.2.d W.5.2.e W.5.7 W.5.8
Project
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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