Format
Teacher directed pre-session activities
- 20 minutes: Have student groups with computers go through the linked presentations and videos found on the Teacher's Guide ("Why are National Parks Important?" and "Great Basin National Park Astronomy Ranger Minute")
Test connection meeting
- Educator has a 10 minute connection test with our team. This allows time to sort any technical issues and understand your specific classroom’s needs.
Distance learning live session
- 45 - 60 minute National Parks at Night live session program. We will have 10-15 minutes at the end for student’s questions.
Teacher-directed post-session activities
- Have students do STEM activities linked in the Teacher's Guide ("Engineering a World without Light Pollution" and "Seeing with Ears")
Objectives
- Students will gain an appreciation for why we have national parks.
- Students will gain an appreciation for dark skies, how distant the next closest star is, and why national park’s preserve darkness.
- Students will gain an understanding about how animals and humans have adapted to need dark environments.
Standards Alignment
National Standards
ESS1A 3-5 -- The universe and its stars
ETS1C 3-5 -- Optimizing the Design Solution
LS1A 3-5 -- Structure and function
Specific Next Generation Science Standards:
3-LS4-3 - Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
4-LS1-1 - Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
5-ESS1-1 - Support an argument that the apparent brightness of the sun and stars is due to their relative distances from the Earth.
5-ESS3-1 - Obtain and combine ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.
3-5-ETS1-1 - Engineering Design - Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.