The night sky is mesmerizing. We gaze up into the vast darkness seeing the moon and stars but we can also look for planet parades, meteor showers, the Aurora Borealis and even see the space station circling around the earth. Canadians have had a significant role in space exploration since the 1950’s. This influence continues with astronaut Jeremy Hansen from the London/Ingersoll area. Jeremy’s path to becoming an astronaut is outlined in an article by CTV news which includes photos of him in childhood showing his interest in space. His dreams of becoming a pilot and exploring space started early, when he was in elementary school. His childhood treehouse included buttons and knobs imitating a rocket ship and this idea was included in an illustrated e-book called, Explorers Club: To the Moon! from the Canadian Space Agency. The book also features Canadian female astronaut, Jenni Gibbons, who is a backup astronaut and capcom on the Artemis II mission.
The Canadian Space Agency website has a section devoted to education with cross-curricular ideas for elementary classrooms where students are learning about space and the contributions of Canadians to space exploration. There are experiments to encourage students to think about how to survive in space. We can also learn about astronauts at NASA who are working on the Artemis mission, including Jeremy Hansen and Jenni Gibbons.
Another source of inspiration is former Canadian astronaut, Chris Hadfield who created fascinating videos while on board the International Space Station. Students sent in questions and he demonstrated how to brush your teeth in space or wringing out a cloth in space.
The excitement and curiosity about exploring space and living in a no-gravity environment makes learning very engaging. The Artemis II mission involves taking their spacecraft, Integrity, around the moon and back to earth as part of their ten day mission. The astronauts are trained to test this new type of space vehicle as part of the overall Artemis plan which includes landing on the moon in the next phase.
The mission is worthy of research and debate with our older students. There are important questions to address:
-How is the Artemis Mission valuable to Canadians?
-What views do Indigenous Peoples have on space exploration?
-How does the Artemis program and the Canadarm 3 inspire STEM education?
-What is the Lunar Gateway project and how are Canadians involved?
-How will the Artemis program influence our society?
For younger students, I highly recommend reading The Darkest Dark by Chris Hadfield. He recalls his experience of watching the lunar landing as a child in 1969 and how it inspired his career as an astronaut. Jump ahead to today and we can wonder how our students will be influenced by the Artemis program, which includes doing research on the moon’s surface and having the Gateway station orbiting the moon to support this research.
Since the science curriculum supports learning about the impact of Canadian scientists on the world, I plan to include information about the Artemis mission in my teaching. There have been many brilliant Canadians leading the way in space research and we have the opportunity to nurture that love of learning in our students. I remember seeing the first female Canadian astronaut, Roberta Bondar, after her space mission. As a woman, I was energized by her accomplishments, commitment, intelligence, and humour.
I can’t help but ponder the Artemis mission and its implications for the future.
Brenda
