Title: Astronomy Mission

Other Curriculum Objectives that can be addressed by this lesson plan

English Language Arts: 2.1, 2.3, 4.1; Mathematics: (Gr 8) 1.1, 1.2, 5.1, 5.2, 5.4, Computer Skills: (Gr. 8) 3.2

Grade: 8

Competency 3.2: Enter and edit data into a prepared spreadsheet to test "What if?" statements.

Measure 3.2.1: Given a prepared spreadsheet with the relative gravity of each planet, determine the weight of five objects on each planet.

Materials Needed: Poster of the solar system; listing of facts on each planet; four "Earth objects" (e.g., textbook, shoe, flower pot, lb. of coffee); bathroom scales; transparencies of Astronomy Mission Spreadsheet Illustration, Astronomy Mission Spreadsheet Example #1, Astronomy Mission Spreadsheet Example #2 ; a handout for each class member of the Astronomy Mission Activity Sheet; overhead projector; prepared spreadsheet file Planets; computers.

Time: One class session.

Terms: Columns, Rows, Cells, Labels, Values, Formulas

Grade 8 Glossary

Pre-Activities:

1. Show the class a poster of the solar system and discuss the position of each planet in relation to Earth.
2. Review with the students various facts they have learned about each planet. Include as one of the facts, the gravitational pull on that planet and how that would affect the weight of a person on that planet.
3. Select one planet and identify its gravitational pull.
4. Show the class the four "Earth Objects," weigh each object on the bathroom scales, and ask them to hypothesize about the weight of that object on the selected planet.
5. Discuss with the class how a spreadsheet could be used to calculate these values. Emphasize that this type of "what if" problem solving is a major use of spreadsheets by scientists.

Activity:

1. Explain to the class that they are going to pretend that they are traveling through the solar system with a giant telescope to examine the galaxy. Their task is to leave Earth, land on one of the planets of the solar system, use the telescope to examine local space, take off and return to Earth. Explain that they will be using a computer spreadsheet to determine if they have enough fuel to visit specific planets based on the gravitational pull of the planet and the weight of the crew and cargo (telescope).
2. Project a transparency of the Astronomy Mission Spreadsheet Illustration blackline master for the class to see. Point out the following features:

   a. Where the students will be entering their name and the names of three friends. Explain that the pilot is listed first, then the navigator, then the astronomer, and finally the mission specialist on the spreadsheet.

   b. Where they will enter their Earth weights and that the spreadsheet automatically calculates the weight of each of the astronauts on each of the other planets.

   c. Where the students will enter their amount of fuel.

   d. Where the spreadsheet displays the amount of fuel needed for a round-trip visit to each planet from Earth and the amount that would be left. Explain that for the Fuel Remaining column if there is a minus (-) by the number, there was not enough fuel to visit that planet and that the number itself is the amount of additional fuel needed to visit the planet.

3. Ask the class if anyone can explain how they might figure out which planets they would be able to visit with 30,000 pounds of fuel? An appropriate answer would be to enter 30000 for "AMOUNT OF FUEL" and then identify the planets that have a positive amount in the Fuel Remaining column.
4. Project transparency of the Astronomy Mission Spreadsheet Example #1 blackline master. It gives the resulting data for 32,000 pounds of fuel. Ask the class to identify the individual planets they would be able to visit with that much fuel.
5. Next, project transparency of the Astronomy Mission Spreadsheet Example #2 blackline master and ask the class how much fuel is available. The answer would be 15,000 pounds of fuel. Ask the class to identify the individual planets they would be able to visit with this much fuel.
6. Ask the class how they might determine the lowest amount of fuel necessary to visit Neptune? An appropriate answer would be to try numbers for "AMOUNT OF FUEL" until they get a zero (0) under "REMAINING FUEL" by Neptune.
7. Hand out copies of the Astronomy Mission Activity to the class. If there are a limited number of computers in the classroom, then have students come to the computer(s) in groups of two to work on the problems as the rest of the class works on another activity. If there is a computer lab, then have the class work on the activity problems in the lab.

Given a prepared spreadsheet on the relative gravity of each planet, have each student decide which planets could be visited with three friends (weighing ?, ?, and ? pounds on Earth) and a telescope based on fuel amounts of 11,000 lbs., 23.500 lbs, and 18,970 lbs.