Infinity, and Beyond! The Exploration of Outer Space

INFINITY AND BEYOND

THE EXPLORATION OF OUTER SPACE

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BJECTIVES:

THE PRACTICALITIES OF SPACE EXPLORATION

Cost and priority Risks 1 2

SPEECH

PRACTICE

Space Explorer

EXTRA FOR EXPERTS

Switching Sides

What outer space is Expressing our feeling while speaking

The benefits and harms of space exploration

SYMBOL OBJECTIVES:

By the end of today’s class, you’ll learn:

INFINITY, AND BEYOND!

Time

New Technology Warm-up Activity

3 Mins: Prep

1 - 2 Mins: Speak

Rules

You are an astronaut, asked to explore a new planet. You get to choose which one you go to. Tell us which planet you chose, and why.

INFINITY, AND BEYOND!

PLANET A

Planet A is a giant planet covered in ice, with lots of big snow storms Supposedly, giant snow monsters live there, covered in a special fur that humanity could use to learn how to stay warm on earth.

PLANET B

Planet B is a dangerous, small planet covered in volcanoes It is very close to Earth, and the molten lava that comes from the volcanoes is made of an element that, when it cools, is five times harder than diamond!

PLANET C

Planet C is far away in another galaxy, where it would take 15 years to travel there Based on telescopes, Planet C looks very similar to Earth, and there’s potential that human life could survive on it.

PAR SPACE EXP

RT 1 PLORATION

PART 1: SPACE EXPLORATION

The Earth's atmosphere is the jacket of gases around it. It makes life possible by protecting us from the sun’s rays, giving us oxygen to breathe, and keeping us warm.

What is Outer Space?

Outer space is the seemingly endless expanse that exists outside of the Earth's atmosphere. It is the region beyond our planet where there are no air or gases, and it is where stars, planets, moons, asteroids, and other celestial objects are found. Earth and everything in space make up the universe: everything that exists (or has ever existed) across space and time.

In reality, Earth makes up the tiniest part of the universe. Let’s take a look at Earth in comparison to other parts of our solar system (us, the other planets, and the Sun):

Sun Jupiter Earth Mars

The Sun is a star - every solar system has one. Our Sun is a lot smaller than some other suns in different solar systems:

Sun Rigel

INFINITY, AND BEYOND!

Our solar system is part of a Galaxy called the Milky Way, which contains thousands of other solar systems with their stars and planets.

We are here

This continues forever - more galaxies make up galaxy clusters, and they make up superclusters, and so on. The main takeaway: space is HUGE!

Outer space refers to everything beyond Earth’s atmosphere that makes up space. There is no air or gases in outer space. Our Earth makes up a very very small part of the universe.

How do we know what’s in outer space?

While humans have landed on the moon and sent drones to Mars, most of the outer space is far too far away for our technology to travel. We’ve figured out what’s in the rest of outer space using ultra-high-tech telescopes and measuring things like gravitational waves and radiation from other things in space.

1. 2.

Do you think there are extraterrestrial life forms (aliens) outside of Earth?

Science has only come so far, and there are still a lot of mysteries of outer space that we cannot solve just yet.

Life beyond our planet?

We haven’t discovered any life outside of planet Earth. Earth has some pretty unique conditions that make it perfect for living things: water, an atmosphere, and reasonable temperatures.

However, scientists argue that the universe is so massive, that by sheer scale there are likely other forms of life. If there are billions of other planets, it may be the case that others also have the special combination of conditions required for their own form of life.

Fun Fact

1969: NASA (the American space organisation) launches Apollo, and the first humans land on the moon.

y is learning about r space necessary?

bout the outer space helps us with a lot of things:

Satellites take pictures of our planet for things like weather and maps, let us watch TV shows and use GPS on our phones to find our way, and even help us talk to friends and family far away.

Scientific Discoveries: Space missions may help us find new things to help with technology and medicine. Sometimes in preparation for the mission, we invent new things too!

Defend against Asteroids!: we can identify potentially hazardous asteroids or comets that could impact Earth

Habitation: scientists are exploring ways that we could survive while living on Mars, in case a catastrophe happens that makes Earth unliveable

If scientists said that we can live on Mars today, would you choose to move there now?

PAR EXPRESSING EMOTIO

RT 2 ONS WHILE SPEAKING

EXPRESSING EMOTIONS

We feel emotions all the time during the day - it’s completely normal, and talking about our feelings is a great way to show others what we are thinking. Showing emotion is a form of communication.

In debating, it can also be used as a tool to be more persuasive by encouraging the judge to feel a certain way about what you’re trying to say.

Here are some examples:

Tone: scared face

“Space is spooky, and there’s a lot of danger out there. An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs millions of years ago; what if that happened again!?”

BEYOND BORDERS

Tone: happy face

“Space contains so much opportunity to learn about how we were created. Earth is just a tiny spec in the universe, so it can’t contain all of the answers.”

It’s important to show different emotions while we speak, to help us communicate to a judge how they should feel about our material.

Loud and Proud! Activity

Time 10 Mins: Prep

Rules

It’s time to get wild! As a class, go around in a circle and say the phrase with the corresponding emotion. With each new speaker, try to make that emotion even more extreme than the person before you!

Start with a different person in the class for each phrase before going around the room, so everyone gets a chance to be the most expressive

Phrase one: happy

“Thanks to space exploration, we’ve learned a heap about science and robotics. These robots can be used in surgeries and save lives.”

Phrase two: angry

“Exploring space is a waste of time. We have our own issues to deal with here on Earth!”

Phrase three: alarmed

“Satellites take photos of what’s happening on Earth, and we can see the harms of climate change We need to do something!”

Phrase four: excited

“Did you know that robots have landed on Mars? They scan the planet so we can learn about it!”

Mood Match Activity

Time 10 Mins: Prep

Rules

Match the speech bubbles to different emotions that could complement what we are trying to communicate

After discussing, each member of the class will pick one speech bubble and mood to practice saying in front of the class

Guidelines

There might be multiple moods that you could choose for the same speech bubble Discuss as a class which mood would be the best fit, and try to use every mood if you can.

BEYOND BORDERS

Speech Bubbles

“What if aliens existed in another solar system? Maybe we could communicate and share technology with them, and they could help us learn new things.”

“It’s so cool that different countries work together to explore outer space. The International Space Station is an example of what we can achieve when humans work together..”

“Satellites are creepy because they can spy on the whole planet and take pictures. We shouldn’t let just anyone send a satellite into outer space ”

“Searching outer space is a waste of time. Our universe is so massive that trying to find something important in other solar systems is like finding a needle in a haystack.”

ANGRY EXCITED SCARED

Emotions

PAR THE PRACTICALITIES OF

RT 3 F SPACE EXPLORATION

PART 3: THE PRACTICALITIES OF SPACE EXPLORATION

COS

Space travel, Let’s take a loo Space exploration

Launching a small satellite Sending a rover to Mars

Building the Internati Space Station The majority of Governments mea

1. 2

Do you Do you wisely?

ST AND PRIORITIES

, or even studying space from planet Earth, is really expensive. ok at things you would be able to buy with the money that could be spent on space.

$50 Million

250 schools in countries with low literacy

$2.8 billion

180 hospitals in India

$96 billion

End global hunger for 2 years

f the money that is spent on space come from governments. get their money from taxing citizens and companies, which ans that citizens directly fund space exploration. think that exploring space is a good use of taxpayer money? think the government has a duty to spend taxpayer money

? Why/why not?

PART 3: THE PRACTICALITIES OF SPACE EXPLORATION

OTHER RISKS

HEALTH

Humans can die from rockets malfunctioning during mission Extended space travel exposes astronauts microgravity, space radiation, and isolation. These f muscled weak and reduce your ability to fight disea

SPACE DEBRIS

When we launch a satellite or spacecraft into orbit, machinery stays up there. Space is cluttered with d space missions, defunct satellites, and other fragme space debris can pose a significant threat to spacec

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Sending rockets into space can pollute the atmosph the effects of global warming

Which of these harms do you think is t

g launch or during a to the hazards of factors can make your ase.

that metal and other ebris from previous ents Collisions with craft and astronauts here, contributing to the worst?

You are going to give a speech about whether you think space exploration is a good idea, based on weighing up the benefits against the risks.

uidelines

hoose whether you want to argue for or against space xploration.

Make sure you express at least two different emotions uring your speech to help make it more convincing. eelings you could try using include:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Happiness

Sadness

Anger

Fear

Excitement

se your Speech Building Blocks below for structure. he template will remain up during your speech.

nspiration Aid

For space exploration

Against space exploration

Science and technology

Environmental awareness

International collaboration

Search for extraterrestrial life

Cost Health

Space debris

Environmental pollution

er space offers an unknown expanse of potential risks and benefits. lieve that further exploration of outer space (pick one) is / is not a od idea.

ra for experts: write your own introduction! An introduction should e an opening statement and a mission statement.

1

first reason why space exploration (pick one) is / is not a good idea nsert reason here).

lain your reasoning here …

2

second reason why space exploration (pick one) is / is not a good a is (insert reason here).

lain your reasoning here …

ONCLUSION

ce exploration is a huge endeavour. Because of insert your reasons e, I believe that further space exploration (pick one) is / is not a d idea.

Feedback

It’s time for your coach to give you feedback on your speech! They will tell you:

1.

2.

One way you used emotions well to communicate your point One opportunity where you could have placed even more emphasis on your emotions to make your speaking more powerful.

Switching Sides! Activity

You are going to give a speech about whether you think further space exploration is a good idea.

You have to give your speech for the opposite side from what you argued last time.

uidelines

ou will be using the building blocks template as a uide, as well as some hints for potential reasons you ould give!

We’ll keep the template up during preparation time, as well as during your speech.

ecause you have less time for this activity, you only ave to come up with one reason instead of two. This means you will skip the second reason building block.

ry to express some different emotions during your peech!

nspiration Aid

For space exploration Against space exploration

Science and technology

Environmental awareness

International collaboration

Search for extraterrestrial life

Cost

Health

Space debris

Environmental pollution

ter space offers an unknown expanse of potential risks and nefits. I believe that further exploration of outer space (pick e) is / is not a good idea.

ra for experts: write your own introduction! An introduction ould have an opening statement and a mission statement.

ace exploration (pick one) is / is not a good idea (insert son here).

plain your reasoning here …

ONCLUSION

ace exploration is a huge endeavour. Because of insert your son here, I believe that further space exploration (pick one) is not a good idea.

RECAP

OUTER SPACE

Outer space refers to everything beyond Earth’s atmosphere that makes up empty space. There is no air or gases in outer space. Our Earth makes up a very very small part of the universe.

SCIENCE AND MYSTERY

Science has only come so far, and there are still a lot of mysteries of outer space that we cannot solve just yet.

IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING OUTER SPACE

Learning about outer space is important because of:

It’s important to express emotions while we are debating to help make our material more persuasive

RISKS OF EXPLORATION

Risks of outer space exploration: