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The e-Mission format conceived by the Challenger
Center at Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, WV, is a
proven, exciting tool for presenting fundamental science concepts.
During the e-Mission and their Mission Specialist preparation,
students….
 actively
participate in scientific [explorations] and ….use the
cognitive and manipulative skills associated with the formulation
of scientific explanations. P.173
[are
introduced to] scientific topics that have been highlighted
by current events. P.173
[are
offered] science and technology-related problems [as] meaningful
investigations. P.173
develop
meaning through active involvement. P.173.
Science teachers can emphasize 7 ideas
that help the students organize and understand the overriding
impact of Space Station Alpha…
It
is a significant scientific and technological experiment in
a hostile environment.
It
is exemplifies the close relationship between science and
technology.
It
is a product of international teamwork.
It
is in itself a laboratory in which humans are totally dependant
for their survival upon cutting edge technology.
It
is both a culmination of what mankind's scientific knowledge
and a platform for new scientific discoveries.
It
is a "manmade" ecosystem in which humans and technology
are integral elements of the system.
Space Station Alpha's scientific and technological
complexity requires that the program's developers select scientific
and technological topics that are both manageable and meaningful
to the eighth and ninth grade science student. To this end
we focused on the following aspects of the space station challenge:
The
space station is both a protective fortress and a "living
organism."
The
space station and its human cargo constitute a technologically-dependant
ecosystem. All new additions to this system influence the
balance of the environmental conditions.
The
Sun is both life-source and potential enemy. It has become,
only recently and thanks to advances in satellite technology,
an astrophysical laboratory.
Radiation
in space, as on Earth, is both beneficial and harmful, both
friend and destroyer.
Electricity
is the lifeblood of this technological "organism."
Life
support systems are the technological "umbilical cord"
that sustain the health and functions of the space station's
human inhabitants.
Perhaps it helps to illustrate the challenge
of developing e-Mission: Space Station Alpha by listing some
of the aspects of the space station we could have, but due
to constraints in class time, resources, and student background,
chose not to introduce in this project:
The
space station's water cycle and water management systems
Waste
management
Food
sources and management
Scientific
experiments
Weightlessness
An
unending stream of innovative and exciting technologies
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