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Artemis III – Lesson 4: Growing Food on the Moon
Lesson Summary
In this lesson: First, students will consider what plants they have eaten recently, as well as why we eat. Then, they will plan and carry out investigations to help them learn about the inputs (time, water, soil, fertilizer, labor, etc) that are required to produce food (output) from plants. They will use what they learn from their experiments and other sources to make an agricultural plan with a claim of what will be required to produce food on the Moon.
Estimated Instructional Time: 4.5 hours (plus additional time needed for plant growth observations)
Lesson Level Question: How can we make a plan for feeding astronauts on the Moon?
Engage
Students will consider all of the plants that they have eaten over the past week, including locally or culturally important plant foods. Then, they will consider the reasons why we eat.
Explore
Students will plan and carry out an investigation in order to produce evidence about time and/or resources that are needed to produce food from plants.
Explain
Students will analyze the data from their experiments in order to make a claim about the number of calories that their plant produced and the amount of time and/or resources that it took to produce the calories.
Elaborate
Students will use the data from their experiments as evidence to support a claim about the time and/or resources (inputs) it will take for astronauts to produce food (output) on the Moon.
Evaluate
Students will document their work and learning for this lesson by meeting the deliverables outlined in MO-4.
Extend (optional)
Students will investigate the food that is produced and consumed in their local area (OPTION 1) and/or investigate NASA careers related to the work of this lesson (OPTION 2).
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: