Back to Icy Worlds: Mission Planning
Icy Worlds – U1, Lesson 3: Documenting the Mission
In this lesson: First, students will consider the reasons and methods of preserving information for the future. Then, they will examine past examples of Mission Development Logs (MDLs) to get ideas for their own MDLs. Next, students will make a timeline and plan for their own MDL. Finally, students will begin their MDLs in groups and enter important mission information.
Lesson Level Question: Why is clear written documentation so important to planning successful, long-term, complex projects?
Engage
Students will examine a series of images to spark their thinking about the kinds of information it is important to record and various ways of recording information (writing, photos, drawings, tables, graphs, videos, etc).
Explore
Students will review examples of Mission Development Logs (MDLs) from previous student challenges to evaluate various approaches to their own MDLs.
Explain
Students will share their three pieces of advice for improving the MDL examples.
Elaborate
Students will apply what they have learned about MDLs and the mission so far to plan their mission timeline.
Evaluate
Students teams will begin their Mission Development Logs for this project.
Extend (optional)
Students will explore notebooks that past and present scientists, engineers, and designers have made.