Webquest 3 Blog...

1. Develop a concept map, which outlines the big ideas addressed in this webquest along with the fundamental concepts, which students should have as prior knowledge.

Rather than a concept map, I’m putting here my answers to the Moon mission design questions in Task 3 of this webquest since pretty much everything else in this webquest is based on these answers. 

1.      Will your mission be manned or robotic?

The mission will be manned since the overall goal is to establish a permanent base on the Moon. 

2.      Are you landing on the surface?  If so, where exactly?

The site for the base is at 81^o 37’ 10” S   145^o 49’ 40” W near the south pole where water ice was confirmed by LCROSS.

3.      Why did you choose this landing site?

This site is far enough away from the pole to have a regular day/night cycle but it is very near where LCROSS discovered water ice in a permanently shaded crater.  Since liquid water is obviously required for a permanent human presence on the Moon, the landing site must be near the poles.  It is not in the crater itself because the crater is permanently shaded and solar panels on the base need sunlight to generate electricity.  The site is also in the highlands which have not been explored as much as the mare and it is near ejecta from Cookes crater which can give clues as to the internal composition of the Moon.

4.      What goals do you hope to achieve?

The first goal is to establish a permanent base on the Moon as a research station and to foster cooperation between all space faring countries.  Right now the only permanent base outside of Earth is the International Space Station.  Since this will be very expensive, funding will be split among several space agencies.  Overall, this base is a step towards colonizing Mars since the Moon is close enough to Earth that if something were to go wrong, an emergency escape vehicle at the base could get the astronauts back to Earth within a couple days.  This would not be possible on Mars but the Moon base is a good dry run to hash out any unforeseen problems. 

A second goal is to analyze ejecta from the Cookes crater to determine the internal composition of the Moon.  The mission site will be in the highlands which are much less explored than the mare. 

5.      What kinds of instruments will you be using?

As far as scientific equipment, since a main goal of this base is to analyze Moon rocks there will need to be a gas chromatograph along with standard lab equipment such as balances, glassware, sterile environments, etc. 

To establish a permanent base, many of the comforts of home will need to be brought to the Moon.  First thing to bring is materials with which to build a shelter.  This material will need to have special lining to protect against solar radiation since the Moon has no magnetic field or atmosphere to block or absorb it.  Equipment will be needed to process and filter the water ice for use by the humans along with fairly heavy duty rovers and equipment to harvest and transport the water ice from the craters to the base. 

A greenhouse will be necessary to grow food.  And equipment will be needed to dig a small underground space for the astronauts to take refuge during solar flares or other storms that release above normal radiation that the above ground habitat may not be able to block.

6.      Will you need an orbiter to communicate with Earth or as part of your sciene investigation?

The actual landing site is just barely on the near side of the Moon so it will be able to communicate with Earth all the time.  However, an orbiter will be needed to communicate with rovers during excursions to the far side of the Moon. 

7.      If you are conducting a manned mission, how will your astronauts survive on the surface?  Will there be a full base, or just a temporary lander?  What kinds of tasks will they be charged with when they reach the surface? 

Water will be collected from ice in the permanently shaded craters.  At first there will need to be lots of startup food brought with the astronauts until the greenhouse is capable of sustaining them.  Solar panels provide electricity and heat especially since it is very cold at the poles.  There will need to be lots of physical training and exercise while on the Moon because its reduced gravity will have negative effects on inhabitants although they should be in better shape than astronauts on the International Space Station. 

8.      Will your mission involve a return from the Moon?  If so, will it be sample or just the astronauts returning home?  If samples, what will happen to them when they are brought to Earth? 

Just like the International Space Station, the lunar base will have rotating crews that will provide supplies and return samples from the Moon.  There is a real possibility to send tons of Moon rocks back to Earth over the lifetime of this lunar base.  And there is a very long shot that evidence of biological processes could be found in lunar ice. 

2. What SC standards (science, math, or otherwise) are related to the teachings/activities in the webquest?

PS-1.1 Generate hypotheses on the basis of credible, accurate, and relevant sources of scientific information.

PS-1.4 Design a scientific investigation with appropriate methods of control to test a hypothesis (including independent and dependent variables), and evaluate the designs of sample investigations.

PS-1.5 Organize and interpret the data from a controlled scientific investigation by using mathematics (including formulas and dimensional analysis), graphs, models, and/or technology.

PS-1.6 Evaluate the results of a controlled scientific investigation in terms of whether they refute or verify the hypothesis.

PS-1.7 Evaluate a technological design or product on the basis of designated criteria (including cost, time, and materials).

PS-1.8 Compare the processes of scientific investigation and technological design.

All of these physical science standards are relevant to this webquest as they involve planning and designing an experiment and this webquest involves planning a mission to the Moon pretty much from the ground up.  The PS-1 standards in physical science are generally the same for all sciences since these standards are basic scientific investigation.  This webquest would be a great project to do over the course of a week or so or maybe longer as a capstone project for the Moon unit.

3. Using your support documents for these standards, what is essential for students to understand?

This webquest would be a great capstone project for a Moon unit.  They must understand important aspects of the Moon including what we know and what we don’t know.  What we know is helpful in planning the mission and being able to design the mission so the astronauts (lunarnauts?) can survive.  For example, the students must know that there is water on the Moon but only at the poles so that’s where the permanent manned mission must be.  However, sunlight is weak at the poles so the solar panels used for power must be large and angled the right way (not just “up”).  Also, it is very cold at the poles so a great deal of power generated must be used for heating.  The Moon has no magnetic field or atmosphere so harmful solar wind particles and radiation are a very real threat to lunar colonists.  Appropriate equipment must be brought to protect the colonists over long periods of time. 

What we don’t know and want to figure out is important so that meaningful science can be accomplished.  It would be a shame for the lunar colonists to land in an area that we already know a great deal about.  I’m sure it would be interesting nonetheless but if we are going to put a permanent presence on the Moon, we might as well go to a location that we know little about other than the fact that it’s a safe place to be. 

4. How can the materials/information be used to help students develop their essential understandings?  How can you modify the information or lesson to address the development of these understandings?

This kind of goes along with what I just talked about in the previous part.  I’ll add the fact that designing a Moon mission is really high order thinking which requires in-depth understanding of the Moon. 

As far as modifying the lesson, I don’t think I would change much although I would have the students draw their base with specifications.  I may even have them make a small model.  This could get really involved but it would be worth it. 

The students could evaluate each others designs by noting good ideas and areas for improvement.  For example, if a group puts their base on the far side of the Moon and has no orbiting satellite to relay communications to and from Earth, I would hope that other students would see that that would be a problem. 

5. What key misconceptions commonly inhibit a clear and accurate understanding of this content?  How should you modify your instruction to address these misconceptions?

The only big misconception I could see may ironically come into play if the students correctly take into account that there is no permanent dark side of the Moon.  Some may put their base on the far side of the Moon which is completely acceptable.  However, the length of a lunar day is about 28 Earth days so any base, regardless of which side of the Moon it is on, would have 14 days of Sun followed by 14 days of darkness.  There would have to be some major-league solar batteries to last through the dark days. 

And I’m not sure of the axial tilt of the Moon so a polar base may have continuous daylight for 6 months followed by continuous night for the other six months.  I’ll have to look that up.

6. What new scientific information did you learn in this lesson?

Well I really can’t think of anything that I learned new in this lesson.  In my neverending nerdy-ness, I have thought about colonizing the Moon long before this course so pretty much everything that I needed to know about it I already knew.  The most recent thing I learned was a few months ago that water ice was confirmed to be in permanently shaded craters on the Moon.

7. What questions do you still have?  (Write at least two and answer them with the resources and links provided.)

The only big question I have came up while I was writing my response to question 5.  What is the Moon’s axial tilt relative to the Sun?  If it is very low, then the surface of the Moon in continuous daylight or darkness for half the year will be very small (but still at the poles).  If the axial tilt is very high, then the surface of the Moon in continuous daylight or darkness for half the year will be very large. 

According to the textbook for my astronomy class, Astronomy Today, the tilt of the Moon with respect to the ecliptic is 6.7^o which is much smaller than the 23.5^o tilt of Earth.  This means that any spot on the Moon more than 6.7^o from either pole will have at least some sunlight part of the every lunar day throughout the year.  My landing coordinates of 81^o 37’ 10” S is just barely in the light range. 

But I hadn’t considered until now the impact of the Moon’s axial tilt on a lunar mission.  I wonder if my students will think of it…

8. What new instructional practice did you learn?  Describe how you can use this in the classroom.

In my five year teaching career, I have had my students design gravity powered cars and parachutes and synthesize specific amounts of chemicals.  However, I have never had them design something in as much detail as a Moon base and I think that it’s a great idea.  I am seriously considering having them do a project like this at some point this coming year.  I will have to think long and hard about a rubric and how I’m going to grade it but I know that all information will have to be correct but there will be considerable leeway in the design because there is no way that I can foresee what every group will come up with.  I am really looking forward to doing this in class!

One final note, I can’t for the life of me think of a good snappy name (acronym or otherwise) for this Moon mission.