Flyby with Juno

It's large enough to contain 1,300 Earths. It has a storm larger than Earth that has been raging for over 300 years. Its moons are close in size to other planets. And yet, we know very little about Jupiter, the king of the planets. However, that may soon change with NASA's Juno mission that was launched in 2011 and just catapulted its way past Earth in order to reach Jupiter by 2016. If that seems confusing, don't worry—Bill Nye explains it in his web series Why with Nye!

While there is still much to learn about our planetary neighbor, Mars, and all that Curiosity is discovering there, the thought of investigating the largest and most complex planet in our solar system is an exciting new prospect, and one that provides many interdisciplinary tie-ins outside of astronomy. Use this fascinating topic to explore avenues of literacy with your classes. 

 

Greek Mythology

The naming of the planets is a carefully regulated system run by the International Astronomical Union, and all planets and moons need to fit into a logical pattern. That's why Pluto's most recently discovered moon was not allowed to be called the Star Trek inspired "Vulcan" (despite the mythological connections) because the planets had to fit into the underworld theme.

In the same way, the four largest of Jupiter's 67 moons—Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto—all have a narrative link to Zeus/Jupiter. This is a great jumping point for aspiring astronomers and lovers of mythology to explore the connections between mythology and planets, and even guess why each planet received its particular name. 

There are a variety of word scrambles, worksheets, articles, and online resources to help students hunt down the information. This is a great chance for individuals to research separately and then practice speaking and listening skills by presenting to the group with their particular mythological connection.

Graph Literacy

The size of Jupiter and the distance from Earth is hard for the mind to imagine, so it is a good opportunity to practice graph literacy and have your class create scale graphs and models of Earth and Jupiter.

Your class can create scale models, usually the comparative sizes of the two planets, or graph factors like the mass, volume, or density of the planets, or display the distance between the planets and figuring out the journey using Juno's speed after its flyby of the earth. 

Imaginative Writing

The complexities of existing beyond Earth have fascinated mankind well before we ever sent a person into space. Stories like Ray Bradbury's fantastic short story "All Summer in a Day" consider how humanity would respond to living in a strange new world. Often by putting humans in these extraordinary circumstances, we are able to focus on true human nature by testing its response to something radically new.

In "All Summer in a Day," a class of schoolchildren on Venus see the sun for the first time, since there are only two hours of sunlight every seven years. By having writers consider fantastic circumstances, like Jupiter's 9 hour days, living with Io's 400 active volcanoes, or in the oceans of Europa, exercises their imaginations and forces them to think beyond their personal experience.

Pick different situations and have the students pick them at random, describing what life might be like in those circumstances and how that would change their lives. Over 200,000 people have volunteered for a one-way trip to Mars, showing that even in the present day, the spirit of adventure and exploration is still very much alive—and should be awakened in your classes.