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Artemis III – Lesson 3: Investigating Water on Earth and the Moon
Lesson Summary
In this lesson: Students will start by considering where their drinking water comes from at school and at home. Then, they will participate in a water cycle game to understand the basics of the water cycle before engaging with water experiments (or demos) that show various aspects of the water cycle. Next, they will replay the water cycle game with new rules that include contamination cards. In Explain, students will create local water cycle models that show that they have learned. In Elaborate, students will design, build, and test a way to clean water for astronauts on the Moon. Finally, students will summarize their learning in their Mission Development Logs.
Estimated Instructional Time: 7.5 hours
Lesson Level Question: How can Earth’s water cycle provide inspiration for clean water systems on the Moon?
Engage
Students will consider where their drinking water comes from at school, at home, and in their community.
Explore
Students will play two versions of a water cycle game and engage with hands-on activities to understand how the water cycle works to move, change, contaminate, and purify water.
Explain
Students will use what they have learned about the water cycle to create a place-based model of the water cycle reservoirs and processes in their community.
Elaborate
Students will construct and test a prototype inspired by the water cycle to purify water on the Moon.
Evaluate
Students will document their work on this lesson by meeting the deliverables outlined in MO-3.
Extend (optional)
Students will investigate NASA careers related to the work of this lesson.
Standards Alignment
Each lesson includes standards alignment information for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Many lessons also include information on alignment opportunities for: CCSS Mathematics, CCSS English, WA State Learning Standards in Computer Science, WA State Standards in Social Emotional Learning.
In these documents, you will find an alignment summary, followed by details for each lesson: