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Exploration: Then and Now – Human Needs Lesson

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Radiation Tomatoes NASA ID: KSC-20200110-PH-CSH01_0024 Lashelle Spencer, plant scientist with the Laboratory Support Services and Operations (LASSO) contract at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, takes measurements on ‘Red Robin’ dwarf tomato plants, Jan. 10, 2020, inside a laboratory in the spaceport’s Space Station Processing Facility. The tomatoes are growing from seeds that have been exposed to simulated solar particle radiation. The plants’ edible mass and nutrients will be measured and compared to those of a control crop, grown from non-irradiated seeds. The project was designed to confirm that nutritious, high-quality produce can be reliably grown in deep space, or to provide a baseline to guide development of countermeasures to protect future crop foods from radiation during missions beyond low-Earth orbit. The investigation on space radiation impact on seeds and crop production also will be carried on the Materials ... more Date Created: 2020-01-10 Center: KSC Keywords: KSC, Kennedy Space Center, NASA, Ye Zhang, astrobiology, biology (plants), exploration, growing plants in space, humans in space, plants, radiation, radiation's effects on plants, science, space exploration, space research, technology Location: Space Station Processing Facility Photographer: NASA/Cory Huston Visit www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/home/index.html

Audience

Educators

Grade Levels

Grades 5-8

Subject

Life Science, Health and Nutrition, Humans, Living and Working in Space

Type

Lesson Plans / Activities

This lesson will help your students answer questions about how people adapt to and meet their needs in new environments.
In this lesson, students will
– Explore the effects of physical stress on muscle.
– Identify food properties and design tests to select suitable foods for travel during colonial times and for spaceflight.
– Create a food and activity plan for healthy eating, and then modify the plan for 17th-century travel and for 21st-century space travel.
– Compare and contrast challenges faced by 17th-century and 21st-century explorers.
Human Needs Lesson [204KB PDF file]
The educational module Exploration: Then and Now examines four themes and compares exploration of the past and present. The module focuses on the settlement of Jamestown, the first permanent English-speaking colony in the New World, and NASA’s plans to return to the moon and reach for Mars. Each lesson consists of several student activities.
Also in this series:
Survival!
Transportation
Settlement
Follow the Water