Curriculum / ELA / 5th Grade / Alternate Unit 4: Exploring Mars: Spirit and Opportunity / Lesson 18
ELA
Alternate Unit 4
5th Grade
Lesson 18 of 33
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Write a narrative from the perspective of one of the Mars rovers about what it was like to land on Mars using descriptive details from the unit.
Book: The Mighty Mars Rovers: The Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity by Elizabeth Rusch
Template: Narrative Brainstorming Template
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Tasks that represents the peak thinking of the lesson - mastery will indicate whether or not objective was achieved
Write from the perspective of Spirit or Opportunity. What was it like to land on Mars? Tell the story of the landing and what you saw.
An example response to the Target Task at the level of detail expected of the students.
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L.5.1.c — Use verb tense to convey various times, sequences, states, and conditions.
L.5.1.d — Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb tense.
L.5.2 — Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
W.5.3 — Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
W.5.3.a — Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
W.5.3.b — Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.
W.5.3.d — Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.
W.5.5 — With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
W.5.8 — Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.
Standards that are practiced daily but are not priority standards of the unit
L.5.6 — Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal contrast, addition, and other logical relationships (e.g., however, although, nevertheless, similarly, moreover, in addition).
W.5.4 — Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1—3 above.)
W.5.10 — Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Lesson 17
Lesson 19
Identify and explain the goal of the Mars Exploration Rover Mission and why it was important.
RI.5.3 RI.5.8
Explain how Steve’s proposals for missions were different from previous missions to Mars and what problem he was trying to solve.
RI.5.3
Explain why it took three years for Steve’s team to create the rovers and describe the steps the team took to ensure the rover was ready for a trip to Mars.
Explain the importance of each stage of the engineering design process and how NASA engineers used the process to prepare for Mars.
Explain what the team did to prepare Spirit for the trip and why they were worried.
Explain the steps necessary for Spirit’s landing and why each step was important.
Use details from the video and sidebars to revise and add additional information about the steps necessary for Spirit’s landing and operation.
RI.5.3 SL.5.2 W.5.9
Project – 2 days
Develop and design an Entry, Descent, & Landing system for a rover using the engineering and design process.
3-5-ETS1-1 3-5-ETS1-2 3-5-ETS1-3
Describe where Opportunity landed, what Opportunity found, and how the team responded to Opportunity’s findings.
Analyze the strategies Elizabeth Rusch uses to make science feel like an adventure.
RI.5.8 SL.5.1 SL.5.4 SL.5.5 W.5.9
Describe the different accomplishments made by Spirit and Opportunity and what made the accomplishments possible.
Use details from the articles and sidebars to revise and add additional information about the different accomplishments made by Spirit and Opportunity and what made the accomplishments possible.
RI.5.3 RI.5.9
Develop and design a communication protocol for rovers using the engineering and design process.
Explain what evidence the author includes to support the idea that math is a critical component of space exploration and engineering.
Explain what initial discovery Opportunity makes inside Endurance Crater and the tools and techniques scientists used.
Discussion
Debate and analyze unit essential questions.
RI.5.9 SL.5.1 SL.5.3
Writing – 2 days
Write a multiple-paragraph essay to answer a unit Essential Question.
W.5.2.b W.5.2.c W.5.2.d W.5.2.e W.5.9
Narrative Writing – 4 days
L.5.1.c L.5.1.d L.5.2 W.5.3 W.5.3.a W.5.3.b W.5.3.d W.5.5 W.5.8
Analyze the importance of the sun for Spirit’s survival and the steps scientists take to ensure Spirit has access to the sun.
Summarize “Mars Rovers Advance Understanding of the Red Planet”.
RI.5.2 RI.5.3
Summarize what happened with Opportunity on his way to Victoria Crater and the steps the team at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) took to remedy the situation, by explaining the relationship between two or more scientific and technical ideas.
Use details from the articles to revise and add additional information about the challenges Opportunity faced when approaching Victoria Crater.
Compare and contrast the points of view from which the Mighty Mars Rovers and the press releases are written, by analyzing multiple accounts of the same topic.
Analyze the strategies Elizabeth Rusch uses to make science feel like an adventure, by explaining how authors use word choice, language, and point of view to support particular points in a text.
RI.5.5 RI.5.8
Summarize what Spirit found and how the team responded, by integrating information from several texts on the same topic.
Summarize what happened to Opportunity and how the team responded by integrating information from several texts on the same topic.
Compare and contrast how text structure and point of view influence the mood of a text.
RI.5.5 RI.5.9
Analyze and explain the reasons and evidence the author includes to show that the rovers' missions were “more than accomplished.”
RI.5.8
Debate and analyze unit Essential Questions.
SL.5.1 SL.5.3 W.5.9
W.5.2 W.5.2.b W.5.2.c W.5.2.d W.5.2.e W.5.9
Assessment
Informative Writing – 4 days
Write an afterword for The Mighty Mars Rovers by writing an informative text to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
RI.5.9 W.5.2 W.5.2.b W.5.2.c W.5.2.d W.5.2.e W.5.7 W.5.8
Project
Using the engineering and design process, develop and design a rover that can travel on Mars and can pick up samples.
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