Other Edges of Space Grades 5-8

Title: Treasure Hunt 5-8

Authors: Karl von Martius 1840 and Carol Miranda Chor, 2017

Grade Levels/Ages: 5-8

Subject Areas: Ecology,Rainforest,Habitats,Earth History,Earth Day,Earth Science

Standards: Supplemental Resource materials

Short Description:  

Treasure Hunt is a challenge for students to navigate the Expedition Etchings to search for the jaguar, the giant trees, the giant rivers, the lavender sky, etc. Open the Expedition Etchings section to begin your search.

Title: Plant Stalkers
Author:  Karl von Martius 1817 and Carol Miranda Chor 2017
Grade levels: 5-8
Subject/Topic areas: Plants,Ecology,Natural Science,Earth Science,Earth Day
Standards: Supplemental Resource material 
Short Description:The rainforest explorers launched their expeditions in order to collect plants and animals. They made detailed scientific drawings and classified the plants and animals according to their families and species. These families and species were given strange Latin names to describe them. Here's the challenge : unmask these mysterious strangers. Like, what in the world is a Musa paradisiaca, or a Cucurbita lagenaria ?

Today, you will choose your favorites from fruit, vegetable and ornamental plant lists. Unmask their true identity by searching the online plant guide to find common names, habitat, size, color, etc. Then complete the worksheet.

Project title: Remember the Rainforest : Populate Your Rainforest

author : Carol Miranda Chor and Alberto Chor

subject areas : Ecology,Biodiversity,Earth Science,Plants, Animals,Journalism

Grade levels : 5-8

Standards : Supplemental Resource material

short description : What begins as a leisurely browse for favorite plants and animals becomes a headline-grabbing seacrh for extinctions. Choose your favorites from thousands of rare rainforest images created by explorers from the Age of Collectors, when naturalists and artists converged on the rainforest to collect, record and classify the plants and animals that they found. Giving descriptive Latin names to classify plants and animals is known as Taxonomy.

Standards: 

NGSS:  MS-ESS1-2; MS-ETSI-1;  

CCSS: ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.2, 8.4, 8.5, 8.6, 8.7 

This group of lessons encourage students to imagine how they will be a part of the exploration and settlement of space. There are activities to discuss inspiration, compare an Earth environment with a micro-gravity environment, and an activity that suggests students actually consider a career in space. The lesson is organized in five segments which may stand alone or be used as a process to have student design a space settlement.