Lesson 1: Learn

Teacher shows and reviews with the class the answer key to the bingo game.

Students are given a brief overview of the Lunar Rover Research Challenge and watch the kickoff video.

Assess student prior knowledge about space exploration using one of the following options.

OPTION 1: Online, using Mentimeter
Using the online response-sharing tool Mentimeter, students will be able to anonymously share responses about lunar exploration and Canada’s involvement.

Login to Mentimeter and click on the link to the Lunar Rover Mentimeter presentation. At the bottom right of the screen, click on the “Copy to your account” button.

Once copied, the button changes to “Go to my presentations.” You will now see the presentation on your dashboard.

Click on the Lunar Rover Research Challenge Presentation link in your dashboard. Then click on the “present” button on the upper right. At this point you will want to project the presentation on screen.

The first slide will display a code at the top. Students will need to go to www.menti.com and enter this code. This will enable them to add responses to the questions on the slides. Initially, the message below will appear at the bottom right. You will need to press “c” to enable students to submit answers to the questions.

There are three questions. The first two are open-ended. Students’ responses to these two will form a word cloud when displayed.

To display the results, you will need to press “s” to hide the image.

1. Name one thing humans would need to live on the Moon (Word cloud)
2. Why do you think people want to go back to the Moon? (word cloud)
3. Do you think Canada is playing a role in going to the Moon? (yes/no)

These questions will allow students to share some prior knowledge about space exploration and Canada’s contribution to it. Choose a few words from the word clouds and ask students to share why those are important. For example, did students consider items crucial to basic human survival (e.g., water, shelter), or ways to transport people and equipment?

Technology

If you do not have a Mentimeter account, sign up for one. It is a free program.

Language

Students who struggle with executive functioning or motor skills can sit with a student partner to help them enter responses. 

Students with visual impairments should be partnered with a student or teacher to read each question aloud and help record verbal responses in Mentimeter.

OPTION 2: On paper, using sticky notes
Provide students with 3-5 sticky notes. Ensure they have something to write with.

Write each of the following questions on chart paper, a blackboard or a whiteboard, one question at a time. After each question, provide time for students to write their answer on a sticky note and stick it up near the question.

1. Name one thing humans would need to live on the Moon.
2. Why do you think people want to go back to the Moon?
3. Do you think Canada is playing a role in going to the Moon?

Choose a few sticky notes to read aloud. Ask follow-up questions to further probe student understanding.

Discussions

Discussion prompts can include:

• “Why would food, water or shelter be important for living on the Moon?”
• “Do you think that is a good reason to go to the Moon?”
• “What space related skills is Canada known for?”

Language

Students with motor or visual impairments could sit with a partner to write their sticky notes collaboratively.

Make sure every student has access to the Canada Goes to the Moon Backgrounder. Independently, or in small groups, have students read the backgrounder and highlight important information using the Marking Text learning strategy.

Divide students into groups of four or five to play Lunar Bingo. Distribute a copy of the Canada Goes to the Moon Bingo Card reproducible [Google doc] [Word doc] [PDF] to each group. You will also need the Canada Goes to the Moon bingo Teacher Card reproducible [Google doc] [Word doc] [PDF]. It contains the questions and answers.

Call out the questions at random, keeping track of which ones you have called. You will be reading out all of the questions.

Give each group up to one minute to determine the correct answer. They may refer back to the Canada Goes to the Moon Backgrounder as needed. The group that has the answer first raises their hands.

If the answer is correct, that group may cross out or highlight the corresponding space on their bingo card. If the answer is not correct, give another group the chance to answer.

The group that crosses out or highlights the most boxes wins the game.

Language

Provide a word wall of new and important terms for ELL students.

Students with visual impairments can use the read aloud feature of  Read&Write for Google Chrome™ when interacting with the backgrounder.

Idea

If short on time for the Bingo game, set a timer for 10 minutes and assign the rest of the backgrounder for at-home reading.

Alternatively, students could find answers to the Bingo questions outside of class time, to demonstrate understanding.

Technology

This Bingo activity could also be done online. If students complete the activity online, they can highlight completed squares on the Google doc or PDF.

After the Bingo activity, ask students what they found surprising, or new. Encourage students to share any questions or wonderings they have about Canada’s role in space.

Students should now have an understanding of Canada’s role in and contributions to the Artemis missions. They should also know what people hope to achieve on and around the Moon.

Idea

Write down student questions to revisit during the project.

Explain to students that they will be participating in a project called the Lunar Rover Research Challenge. As part of this project, they will be playing a board game. The goal of this game is to design a rover mission to find water on the Moon.

Show students the Lunar Rover Research Challenge Kickoff Video.

If you will not be submitting projects to the competition, consider stopping the video at 0:41 or explaining to your students that you will not be submitting projects to the competition.

Language

For students with visual impairments, describe what is on screen during the video.