Traveling through space is an amazing experience, but it definitely takes a toll on the body. After reading an article and watching a brief video, learners perform an experiment that simulates the effects of zero gravity on the human body.

Concepts

astronomy, space exploration, nasa, gravity, space travel, astronauts, outer space

Show More Show Less

Additional Tags

science

Show More Show Less

Instructional Ideas

• Add this lesson to an upper-elementary science unit on space exploration
• Allow the class to read the included informational text in small groups, before discussing the content as a class
• After pairs have recorded their measurements, create a graph of the entire class's data, analyzing the information as whole group

Classroom Considerations

• Included experiment assumes children can accurately measure length using a tape measure, which you may want to practice ahead of time

Pros

• Lesson plan, worksheet, informational text, and video come in both English and Spanish
• Step-by-step procedures with supporting illustrations are provided for carrying out the experiment in this lesson
• Offers ideas for creating cross-curricular connections with the subjects of math, health, and language arts

Cons

• None

Common Core

RI.3.2 RI.4.2 RI.5.2 SL.3.2 SL.4.2 SL.5.2 RI.6.2 SL.6.2 3.MD.B.4 RST.6-8.9