H5 Mars Project

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 5

H5 English Project:

Colonizing Mars

Objectives:

With the lessons about Colonizing Mars we want you to:

• To learn to find the right information from an online English resource
  
• To learn to use this information for new purposes (such as informing another person)
  
• To learn to listen to an English monologue and listen for specific information
  
• To be able to understand written texts about a topical subject
  
• To write an informed piece about a topic you have researched
  
• To learn to form an opinion based on more than one source
• To speak about an English topic to an audience of your peers

Write all your assignments in one file and upload them - before  1 October 2020 - in Magister Opdrachten. You have all lessons in the next two weeks to work on this theme

Introduction

With the recent success of the SpaceX launch of the 

Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station, 

an exciting development is  happening with regard to 

space exploration. With the successful mission, a 

commercial company not only put astronauts into space,

 but the rocket they used was safely returned to Earth 

and can be used again. Great leaps forward are being 

made into commercial space- and interplanetary travel.

 The biggest challenge companies like Elon Musk's 

SpaceX want to take on? Colonizing Mars!

Assignment 1:

Time to learn more about Mars. Go to https://mars.nasa.gov/ and explore the website. Find out the following about Mars:

1. Its size compared to the Earth and  its distance to Earth
2. Its rotation speed and distance to the Sun
3. Its gravity  and atmosphere compared to theEarth

Browse the site some more. Answer the following:

1. Why does Nasa want to explore Mars?
2. What are the 4 scientific goals? Give a short (1-2 sentence) definition of each.
3. How many exploration crafts and rovers have they launched? Are they all still functional?
4. What is Astrobiology? Give a short (2 sentence) definition.

Assignment 2:

Have a look at the two companies vying for commerical and interplanetary spaceflight  and colonizing the Moon and Mars. Find information about the following:

- What is their main mission? Do they both want to colonize Mars?

- How do they want to achieve this?

- What are they currently working on?

Write a promotional paragraph for both companies. Mention their goals, achievements and current projects. Use between 120-150 words for each company.

Websites: https://www.spacex.com/  &  https://www.blueorigin.com/

Assignment 3:

You are going to watch a TED-talk by Stephen Petranek. He is convinced people will travel to Mars as early as 2027. 

There are a couple of open questions you will need to answer as you watch the video. See the following 

slide for the questions. You can copy 

them to a word file to make it easier to 

answer them as you watch. 

TED-Talk questions

1. Why is Stephen talking about going to Mars? What is his main argument?
2. Why is it difficult to get to Mars? Name the 3 reasons Stephen gives in his explanation.
3. Why does he believe that Elon Musk and his company SpaceX can get humans to Mars by 2027?
4. Who is currently taking the lead in the exploration of  Mars?
5. There are 5 things we need to be able to live on Mars: water, oxygen, food, shelter and clothing. Explain how we could get them according to Stephen.
6. How does Stephen suggest we 'terrraform' Mars? Write down the steps he would have us take.
7. What does he quickly mention about human genetics and its role in Mars colonization?
8. Summarize his closing statements in 1 sentence.

Assignment 4:

The first experiments on Earth are being done as well. After all, we are but human and living together on Mars poses great challenges. A crew has isolated itself for 8 months to research what it would be like to be isolated together for that long. Watch the video, read the article and take notes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqFqgmGZrCU

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37211051

A popular science magazine aimed at teenagers has asked you to write a report  about the experiment. You should briefly describe the experiment and how well it has gone giving examples of the challenges they faced. Suggest how teenagers could become involved in experiments like this. Write your report. Use p. 44 in Objective First for support. Use between 150-175 words.

Assignment 5:

SpaceX is looking for people who are willing to go to Mars on their first fully-manned mission. Anyone can sign up, and about 100 people will be selected and trained for the mission. You see this as a once in a lifetime opportunity and decide to sign up. One of the things you need to do is to record a 2/3 minute video explaining why you should be chosen for the Mars-mission.

Prepare your video. What are the reasons you want to go? What can you contribute to the crew and mission? Are you in great health? Do you love science?  

Record your video (phone, online etc). Make sure your video is well-structured (similar to a presentation) and well-motivated. Be creative! Hand in via Magister or via email. 

Hand in all the assignments through Magister Opdrachten before or on October 1st!