Ad Astra:
Using Latin in a Cross-curricular Science Program
MoonLink Activity #3 (Mission
Design)
On the third day of the Moonlink
unit, the students were given Worksheet
#3 and asked to develop a mission (assuming unlimited funding)
and then to design a patch and Latin motto for their mission
(Design Worksheet).
On the first day of work with
this part of the unit, I helped the students to begin thinking
about how to merge their knowledge of Greek and Roman mythology
with modern astronomy. I encouraged them to reconsider some of
the Robert McCall images we had seen two days ago and to think
about the naming of planets and planetary features by the IAU,
which we had studied the day before. We discussed specifics of
the take-home project such as length of the written description,
types of art supplies which could be used, etc. I asked the students
to complete their mission description as a homework assignment
for that night, and the next day was used as in-class time for
work on the patch and Latin motto. During this in-class time,
I allowed them to view actual NASA mission patches in a space
exploration reference book, consult a Latin dictionary, their
own textbooks, and a mythology reference book, access web sites
on the Internet, etc. In this presentation I have included the
worksheets I gave to the students to help them brainstorm some
of their ideas and then focus them more carefully. I have also
included the grade
sheet I used to evaluate the projects when they were collected.
About a week after I had had
time to grade the projects, they were displayed on the bulletin
board for comment and discussion. Those that the class felt were
exceptional were sent to the local observatory which displayed
many of the MoonLink projects from our school. Overall, the students
enjoyed the work very much, and it gave our school a chance to
promote its Latin program to the other teachers and the community.
In conclusion, I might add that
this unit could easily be used in a curriculum that is not involved
in the MoonLink project. I think it could stand alone on its
own interest and usefulness to any students with basic Latin
grammar and mythology knowledge. It could also be adapted to
any space science-related unit. I myself adapted the unit for
another cross-curricular project called MarsQuest that my school's
8th-grade science teacher organized this past spring. Thank you.
