Professional Documents
Culture Documents
SPACE
PROJECT
ON
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SECTION ___________________________________________________________________
If light travels 186,000 miles (300,000 kilometers or 300,000,000 meters) per second, how far
does it travel in a year? Check out the math:
a.) 186,000 miles/second x 60 seconds/minute x 60 minutes/hour x 24 hours/day x 365 days/year
= 5,865,696,000,000 miles/year = approximately 6,000,000,000,000 miles/year;
b.) 300,000 kilometers/second x 60 seconds/minute x 60 minutes/hour x 24 hours/day x 365
days/year = 9,460,800,000,000 kilometers/year = approximately 9,500,000,000,000
kilometers/year;
c.) 300,000,000 meters/ second x 60 seconds/minute x 60 minutes/hour x 24 hours/day x 365
days/year = 9,460,800,000,000,000 meters/year = approximately 9,600,000,000,000,000
meters/year.
The distance light travels in one year is called a light year. A light year is how we measure
distances in space. Even at the incredible speed of light, it takes light about eight minutes to
travel from the Sun to Earth. The light you see right now actually happened eight minutes ago.
It takes more than four years for light to travel from the Sun to the next star, Alpha Centauri.
When you look at the star Betelgeuse, the light you see left Betelgeuse over 500 years ago, about
the time Columbus was landing in America. When we see the light of a distant star, we do not
know for sure if it still exists, but we know it existed hundreds of years ago when it gave out the
light that is arriving on Earth today. Want to see light that is the same age as you are? Look for
the star Sirius, also known as the Dog Star. It is about nine light years away. That means that
starlight from Sirius is about nine Earth years old.
Now, where are you?! How would an alien send you a letter from across the universe? Your
complete universal mailing address, as far as we understand things today, is:
The National Cathedral School for Girls
3612 Woodley Rd., N.W.
Washington, DC 20016
United States of America
Planet Earth (about 13,000 kilometers across)
Earth-Moon System
Solar System (about 10 billion kilometers across)
Solar Neighborhood (about 10 light years across)
Irion Spur (a section of the Milky Way Galaxy)
Milky Way Galaxy (about 150,000 light years across; contains about 400 billion stars)
Local Group of Galaxies (about 3 million light years across)
Virgo Supercluster of Galaxies (contains thousands of clusters of galaxies)
Laniakea (Hawaiian for immeasurable heaven) Region (about 520 million light years across)
Observable Universe (currently extends more than10 billion light years in all directions)
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Your own personal space adventure begins now, as you set out to explore the space topic of your
choice. Enjoy the journey, wherever it may take you. Before you know it, you may be the first
NCS explorer in space!
May all your explorations be filled with great adventure and discovery!
Ms. Bean
Resources
1. Allison, Linda. The Reasons for the Seasons: The Great Cosmic Megagalactic Trip Without Moving From Your Chair. Little Brown & Co.
1975.
2. Bosak, Susan V. Science is . Scholastic. 1991.
PART I
TOPIC SELECTION
PART II
RESEARCH
1. You must include at least twenty-five (25) different facts about your space topic. These facts
must be in your own words. (No copying and pasting of information you research.) Do not
write down things you do not understand. You must understand the facts well enough to explain
them and answer your classmates questions about them. Feel free to ask Ms. Bean for help
understanding the material!
If you discover facts that conflict with one another, what should you do? First, check your
sources of information. Are they reliable sources? Second, check the copyright date of the
information. What is the most current information? Based on this research, which of the
conflicting facts are the most accurate to use in your report?
2. You must have at least three (3) different print sources (books, magazines, articles, etc.)
referenced in your bibliography. Use the cart in the NCS Library and any reliable sources you
have available to you at home. You may use information from 13 Planets only after you have
included 25 facts from other resources.
3. You must have at least three (3) different Internet sources referenced in your bibliography.
See page eight (10).
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INTERNET RESEARCH
A. TRY THE SOLAR SYSTEM APPS ON YOUR IPAD
B. USE THE NCS HOME PAGE
1. Log onto the NCS Home page at http://www.ncs.cathedral.org.
2. Click on Library.
3. Click on Lower School Library.
4. Click on G4 Projects. You MAY NOT USE Wikipedia for this project.
5. Look for:
6. Click any of these sites and you will be taken to their Home page.
7. Be sure to scroll down the pages you find!!! Also be sure to check out the tabs!!
C. OTHER WEBSITES OF INTEREST YOU KNOW ABOUT
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C. DESIGN TIPS
1. Try several different layouts, or arrangements, of all the information before deciding on the
final design. Cluster similar facts together.
2. Draft with a whispering pencil! Make only ghostly marks, because dark lines are hard to
erase AND make permanent dents in the poster board. Erase lightly for the same reasons.
3. Using a ruler, draw very faint false lines so your writing stays in straight lines across the
poster and so your letters are approximately the same size.
4. Leave white space between words and lines.
5. Write all text lightly in pencil before writing it in ink. You may not use anything
permanent until the entire board is drafted in pencil.
6. Step away from your poster, observe it as a visitor would, and ask yourself, Is the
poster interesting and balanced? That is to say, do your eyes follow a smooth path
through the design? Is it a logical path through the information? Do all the parts work well
together to make your ideas clear?
7. Use large letters for more important headings.
8. Proofread often for errors and omissions. Correct errors before starting the final version.
9. Hand print or cut out letters and labels neatly.
10. Place labels neatly in appropriate location.
11. If you use pictures, use pictures that are in focus, in color, and clearly printed. Also, they
must be labeled and their sources credited.
12. Use glue to attach pictures and text to the presentation board.
13. For emphasis, you might mount text and images on colored paper.
14. Spray painting must be done at home.
LIKE
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NAME
SECTION
PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
TOPIC
POINTS
POSSIBLE
POINTS
EARNED
RESEARCH
You used your time in class well.
3 (x3)
You had at least three print and three web
sources of information presented in the
assigned bibliographic format.
4 (x4)
(26)
3
1
4 (x4)
3 (x2)
3
3 (x3)
3 (x2)
3
3
4
(55)
4 (x4)
3
(19)
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COMMENTS
ORAL PRESENTATION
You introduced yourself and topic.
1
You spoke to us (rather than read to us).
3
Your voice was loud and your words were
enunciated clearly.
You did not use the word like
inappropriately.
You maintained good eye contact with the
audience.
You answered questions accurately.
3
3
3
3
3
3(x3)
3(x3)
Subtotal
TOTAL & GRADE
(37)
137
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