Curriculum / ELA / 5th Grade / Alternate Unit 4: Exploring Mars: Spirit and Opportunity / Lesson 32
ELA
Alternate Unit 4
5th Grade
Lesson 32 of 33
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Write an afterword for The Mighty Mars Rovers by writing an informative text to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
Website: Mars Exploration Rovers: Press Releases
Rubric: Grade 5 Informational Writing Rubric
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Tasks that represents the peak thinking of the lesson - mastery will indicate whether or not objective was achieved
Elizabeth Rusch has asked you to write an afterword for The Mighty Mars Rovers based on NASA’s press releases.
Make sure to write the afterword in the same style and format as The Mighty Mars Rovers.
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RI.5.9 — Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
W.5.2 — Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
W.5.2.b — Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic.
W.5.2.c — Link ideas within and across categories of information using words, phrases, and clauses (e.g., in contrast, especially).
W.5.2.d — Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
W.5.2.e — Provide a concluding statement or section related to the information or explanation presented
W.5.7 — Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
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.5.1.b — Form and use the perfect (e.g., I had walked; I have walked; I will have walked) verb tenses.
L.5.1.d — Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb tense.
L.5.2.d — Use underlining, quotation marks, or italics to indicate titles of works.
L.5.2.e — Spell grade-appropriate words correctly, consulting references as needed.
L.5.3.a — Expand, combine, and reduce sentences for meaning, reader/listener interest, and style.
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).
SL.5.4 — Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
SL.5.5 — Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.
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.5.5 — 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.5.10 — 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 31
Lesson 33
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
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.
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
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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