first steps - franklin institute 11... · the computer era. at left is the now ancient apollo...

Apollo 11 First Steps Marketing & Educational Guide

Table of Contents

Topics Page

Key Marketing Messages 3-9

Launch Ideas 10-17

Technology Then & Now 18-25

Educational & Public Programs 26-38

Marketing Materials 39-41

Lesson Plans & Activities 42-50

NGSS Film Tie-ins 51-53

Resources 54- 59

Key Messages

Going to the moon was one of the greatest engineering feats ever achieved … taking humans on the longest trip in history 240,000 miles from earth. How many times have you heard the phrase…. If they can land a man on the moon, they can do …. anything.

The International Space Station flies 234 miles above earth. The Apollo spacecraft flew 240,000 miles from the earth to the moon. That’s 1,000 times farther away! And much more difficult to reach.

Go to slide #27 for an activity that demonstrates why!

Key Messages

Apollo 11 was the ultimate adventure. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to ever set foot on another world. In total, 12 Apollo astronauts walked on the moon.

Key Messages

Nostalgia for that great year in history ... 1969

•  Where were you on July 20, 1969 when man first walked on the moon?

•  Grandparents can take their grand kids to the movie and tell their stories.

•  Tap into the music and culture of the day… the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Woodstock was only 3 weeks away.

Key Messages

The International Space Station flies 234 miles above earth. The Apollo spacecraft flew 240,000 miles from the earth to the moon. That’s 1,000 times farther away! And much more difficult to reach.

Go to slide #27 for an activity that demonstrates why!

Key Messages

Kids can experience what its like to be an astronaut and walk on the moon!

Key Messages

NASA looks to the Future and the Next Generation with the “Moon to Mars” program. Goal – build a permanent human presence on the moon. A new Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft is being built now – target is to fly to the moon in 2022. Next stop … Mars! VISIT www.nasa.gov/topics/moon-to-mars

Key Messages

Key Messages

The goal was to explore the moon, but when we looked back, we discovered the Earth. Seeing the Earth as a whole without borders had a profound effect on the world.

In 1971, during the Apollo missions, organizations like Doctors Without Borders were formed.

Apollo 11 Launch ideas

Let the countdown begin …

•  Re-create a 1960’s living room with a TV from the times and play a video tape of the lunar landing.

•  The room shown here was built by the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago.

•  Have your staff dress like 1969, sunglasses and all!

•  Tap into the music of the day… The Beatles’ “Abbey Road” just came out.

Recreate that historic day

Where were you when we landed

on the moon?

Where were you on July 20, 1969?

Anyone born before 1960 remembers exactly where they were when Neil Armstrong took the first small step for man.

The worldwide TV audience was 550 million! Plan a social media campaign and

invite your audience to share their memories and photos of where they were on this historic day.

Recreate the 60’s for an

out-of-this-world party Show the lunar landing on a 60’s style TV – rabbit ears and all.

Serve cosmo cocktails and Moon Pie, dance to music of the time – The Beatles’ “Abbey Road,” Rolling Stones’ “Let it Bleed” and remember … Woodstock was only 3 weeks away.

Launch a Moon Party

Apollo 11 landed on the moon at 4:00 pm Eastern time. Armstrong took the first step at 11pm EDT. Celebrate the first step exactly as it happened and host a Night at the Museum. Have educational programs and screenings at night or host an overnight Apollo Palooza!

Night at the Museum

If your museum has a moon rock, Apollo artifacts or other space exhibits, now is the time to feature these valuable items and build a museum-wide program around the film celebrating the science, technology and history of the Apollo missions.

Moon Rock and Apollo Exhibits

It is estimated over 500,000 people employed at 20,000 companies across the U.S. worked on the Apollo missions.

Reach out to companies in your city that worked on the Apollo missions and invite the alumni to participate in events and bring in their kids, grand kids, and friends to see the film.

Apollo Alumni across the U.S.

There is more COMPUTING POWER in your cell phone than the entire computing power for the

Apollo 11 program.

Technology Then and Now


Great message for young people:: Your smartphone is millions of times more powerful than NASA’s combined computing in 1969. It shows what you can do with creativity and determination!

Computers were used for only a limited number of tasks on Apollo, such as guidance and communications. But Apollo did use computers for the FIRST TIME, launching the computer era.

At left is the now ancient Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) developed by MIT. Astronauts could type in nouns and verbs that controlled the spacecraft. It only had 64K byte of memory and operated at 0.043MHz.

She wrote the code that helped land man on the moon.

Margaret Hamilton, from MIT, stands next to program “listings” of the actual computer code that she wrote by hand for the Apollo Guidance Computer. She is credited with inventing the term “software engineering.” “There was no choice but to be pioneers,” she said. In 2016 she received the Medal of Freedom from President Obama for her pioneering work.

Women in STEM Then and Now! Many women were part of the NASA team in the early space program leading up to Apollo. They worked on mathematical problems and were sometimes called the human computer! Watch this video as NASA honors women throughout its history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIL-iRF5u34

Encourage Girls to explore STEM Now there are many resources available for girls to experience STEM. Use Apollo 11: First Steps to inspire girls in STEM and maybe even … rocket science!

Then …at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland flight technicians and computer experts employed the

IBM System/360 Model 75s mainframe for independent computations and to maintain communications between Earth and lunar landers.

These computers cost $3.5 million each and were the size of a car!

Now … A simple USB stick is more powerful!


The F-1 Engine on the Saturn V rocket lifted man to the moon.

Amazing Engineering … all done with a slide rule!

There were five F-1 engines and each one created 1.5 million pounds of thrust.

The turbo pump had to withstand liquid oxygen coming in at 300 degrees F below zero and when ignited it was 1,500 degrees F hot.

A million elements and it all had to work perfectly. And it did!

The Saturn 5 rocket had 3 stages with 11 different engines that had to be timed perfectly. The Service Module and Lunar Module separated, then docked in space, the Lunar Module then separated, landed on the moon and then one engine lifted the LEM off the moon and it docked again with the Command Module. The only part of the entire 360 foot tall Saturn 5 that returned to earth was the tiny Command Module at the top, the module that carried the astronauts home. And it all worked perfectly.

“One of the unexpected but welcome things Apollo 11 accomplishes is restoring a sense of how insanely complex the lunar mission was, and how audacious. How did people even have the nerve to dream a dream this big, not to mention the determination and skill to pull it off without a hitch?”

-The Los Angeles Times

Educational & Public Program Ideas

Public Programs, Symposiums, Speakers, Moon Days, Astronomy Nights and everything beyond.

How far away is the moon?

Farther than you think! Use this demo to explain how far. To show how far and how hard it is to get to the moon, use this demo to compare it to sending a spacecraft into Earth’s orbit. Start with Earth as the size of a basketball, the moon the size of a softball, then take a string and ask students to guess how far away the softball would be from the basketball. Answer: 24 feet! Then use a model of the ISS or space shuttle, that flies in earth orbit and ask them how far away the model would be. Most will guess half way. Answer: 1 centimeter! The moon is 240,000 miles from earth and the ISS flies 250 miles above Earth.

Make your own Lunar Footprint!

Build a mock-up of a moon boot and the lunar surface and have kids try on the moon boot and see what its like to create a footprint on the moon, just like Neil Armstrong!

Apollo Palooza!

•  Go all out and plan interactive activities, exhibits, and seminars around Apollo 11

•  Have an astronaut brunch •  Showcase the latest in space exploration

National Moon Day & Moon Rocks

Celebrate National Moon Day on July 20, 2019. And get a moon rock! NASA has a small acrylic disk with pieces of moon rocks and meteorites available for a 2 week loan and requires an in-person workshop. https://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/interaction/lmdp/

There are many NASA astronauts and retired astronauts that might live near you. Or there may be other engineers or other experts that worked on the Apollo program from engineering firms in your location. Bring in the experts for lectures, to meet with school students, or the press or participate in events.

Astronauts and Other Speakers

The Moon is the Star of the Show

Hold star parties, moon viewings, astronomy nights throughout the run of the film.

Symposiums, Festivals and Space Out Saturdays!

Host a Space Symposium with local universities or space engineering firms. Plan a Festival of lectures, programs and screenings or a Space Out Saturday like the Kansas Cosmosphere is planning.

NASA’s Apollo 11 VR Program

With “Apollo 11 VR” users can relive the Apollo 11 mission from launch, walking on the moon, to splashdown on Earth. Created by Immersive VR Education, the app works with Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Sony PlayStation VR. and on a regular computer monitor. It can be purchased but is free for teachers. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/now-you-can-follow-in-neil-armstrong-s-footsteps

Summer Camps

The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11 is in July – the perfect time to plan summer camps around Apollo and exploring the moon! Kids can launch their own rockets, build a lunar rover and other activities, hold star parties and learn more about the moon.

Apollo 9 & Apollo 10

Start building buzz for the film by celebrating the missions that led up to Apollo 11. Apollo 9 on March 3, 1969 tested the command module in Earth’s orbit. Apollo 10 on May 18, 1969 went to the moon, but didn’t land. Build a promotion for Apollo 10 around the Peanuts cartoon!

Apollo 9 – March 3, 1969 Apollo 10 – May 18, 1969

Charlie Brown & Snoopy on Apollo 10

In May 1969, Apollo 10 traveled to the moon and the actual command and lunar modules were named Charlie Brown and Snoopy. The Charles M. Schultz Museum has created educational materials available for schools and museums.

Educational material available from the Charles M. Schultz Museum. Contact: [email protected]

Educational Materials: •  In-school curriculum & digital apps •  A 2000 sq ft exhibit To The Moon:

Snoopy Soars, with artwork, photos, available for lease.

•  STEM content for kids • 

Film Marketing Materials

These materials will be available: Key Art Promo Items Digital/print/outdoor ads Rack cards

Trailer TV/Radio/Online spots Social Media Toolkit Standee / Elevator wraps

Lobby Standee

Put the standee in your lobby and invite visitors to take a photo on the moon!

Promo Items •  Apollo 11: First Steps

t-shirt and button are available from MFF.

•  Apollo 11 patch is available at NASA Gift shop for $5.95

•  Apollo lunch tin available from Think Geek for $25.

•  Model Rockets –Estes kits available in many retail outlets.

•  Lego Saturn V rocket available at retail outlets, $120.

•  Don’t forget the Moon Pie!

Lesson Plans & Activities Activities, lesson plans, and a universe of educational resources.

Educational Resources

While there is no official Educator Guide for the Apollo 11 First Steps film, there is a universe of educational resources available through NASA and other sources. What follows are examples of lesson plans, hands-on activities for museums and classrooms, an Earth and Space Science Toolkit and an Educator Guide on the lunar surface. These materials can be shared with teachers.

Classroom Activities

Jet Propulsion Laboratory Classroom Activities Search by: Type, Subject, Grades, Topics Grades: K-12 Subjects: Science, Technology, Engineering

Math, Language Arts, and Arts NGSS standards: Provided for each activity. Visit this website to look at hundreds of activities.

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach

Sample Activity

Jet Propulsion Laboratory Classroom Activities

Sample: Roving on the Moon Activity

Grade level: 6 – 12

Subjects: Engineering

NGSS standards: Provided.

Engineering students design a rubber band-powered rover that can scramble across the room.

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/roving-on-the-moon/

Jet Propulsion Laboratory Classroom Activities

Sample: Touchdown Activity

Grade level: 3 – 8

Subjects: Engineering & Technology


Students design and build a shock-absorbing system that will protect two "astronauts" when they land.

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/touchdown/

Sample Activity

Educator Guide

Exploring the Lunar Surface Grade level: 3 – 5

6 Lesson Plans Subjects: Science, Engineering, Math


Created by: SpaceMath@NASA

Students will build models to learn about spacecraft, do experiments to understand weightlessness, and will explore the lunar surface using photos, data, math and other skills.

Download the Educator Guide here: https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/737171main_Exploring_Lunar_Surface.pdf

STEM Activities and Teacher Guide Lunar Math Grade level: 5 – 12

Subjects: Math and Science


Created by: SpaceMath@NASA

Students will learn about the moon, its cycles, its craters, eclipses and will learn math skills at the same time. This Guide is a collection of activities, based on one-page space science problems with an answer key and Teacher’s Guide and can also be used as a classroom challenge activity.

Download the Educator Guide here: https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/737171main_Exploring_Lunar_Surface.pdf

Educational Toolkit

Explore Science: Earth & Space 2019 Toolkit Components: 9 planning documents 5 training materials 11 hands-on STEM activities

Subjects: Earth, Science, Technology

Created by: In collaboration with NASA, the NISE Network has assembled a new set of engaging, hands-on Earth and space science experiences with connections to science, technology, and society.

http://www.nisenet.org/earthspacekit-2019

NASA Space Place

Level: Kids all ages, Families, Educators

Subjects: STEM

Components: Hands-on activities, fun games, articles, short videos.

Created by: NASA Space Place Team at JPL NASA Space Place’s mission is to inspire and enrich upper-elementary-aged kids' learning of space and Earth science online through fun games, hands-on activities, informative articles and engaging short videos. Material in both English and Spanish and resources for parents and teachers.

Visit this site: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/

Build a Lunar Habitat

Make Oreo Moon Phases

NGSS Connections for Apollo 11: First Steps

Teachers can use Apollo 11: First Steps with additional activities and discussion to support the Next Generation Science Standards.

What follows are the NGSS standards and film tie-ins for Upper Elementary through High School.

Upper Elementary:

3-PS2-2 Make observations and/or measurements of an object’s motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion. When we see the diagrams Apollo 11’s path, it is clearly possible to make predictions about where it will go in the future.

4-PS3-4 Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another. Students who see Apollo 11 will be primed to do a water rocket or paper rocket design challenge when they get back to class.

5-PS2-1 Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down.

Watching the Saturn V launch and the re-entry capsule splashdown are clear examples of Earth’s gravity pulling down.

MS-PS2-4 Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects.

We see the difference in how the astronauts move while on the moon (where gravity is less, because if the moon’s smaller mass). Also, gravity is clearly an attractive force since the large Saturn V rocket is needed to get the astronauts off the Earth.

MS-PS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.

This is the kind of problem that NASA engineers had to solve many times in the space program. The astronauts needed to maintain a comfortable temperature while on the moon, so the suit could warm or cool them as needed. The re-entry capsule had a heat shield to protect the crew from high temperature gasses around them on descent.

MS-ESS 1-1 Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.

The diagram of Apollo 11’s path from the Earth to the moon could be used to reinforce the arrangement of the Earth, moon, and sun.

MS-ESS 1-3 Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system.

The diagram of Apollo 11’s path from the Earth to the moon helps to convey the scale of distances in the Solar System. Also, the emphasis on how many days the astronauts were in transit from Earth to the moon, even though they were travelling very, very fast. Finally, the motion of the astronauts as they moved around on the moon clearly shows that they weigh less there.

MS-ETS 1-1 Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

President Kennedy’s speech could be though of as the beginning of the definition of the engineering challenge of getting to the moon. He specified a time frame, that the astronauts would land on the moon (not just orbit it), and that they would return to Earth safely.

Middle School


HS-PS2-1 Analyze data to support the claim that Newton’s second law of motion describes the mathematical relationship among the net force on a macroscopic object, its mass, and its acceleration.

To support this, ask students to use Newton’s second law to explain the staged design of the Saturn V launch vehicle. Why have sections of the rocket drop off after the fuel was consumed? Compare the size of the rocket motor at the bottom of the Saturn V to the rocket on the lunar lander. Why is the lunar lander rocket so much smaller?

HS-PS2-4 Use mathematical representations of Newton’s Law of Gravitation and Coulomb’s Law to describe and predict the gravitational and electrostatic forces between objects.

Obtain the mass and radius data for the Earth and the moon and have students calculate the difference in gravitational force at the surface of each body. At one point on the journey from Earth to the moon, the gravitational force of the Earth on the astronauts would be exactly the same as the gravitational force of the moon on the astronauts. Where would that point be?

HS-PS3-3 Design, build, and refine a device that works within given constraints to convert one form of energy into another form of energy.

There are many examples in the film of NASA engineers working on design challenges like this. The Saturn V launch vehicle converts chemical energy into kinetic energy, which is converted into gravitational potential energy. On reentry, the kinetic energy of the vehicle is converted into heat.

High School


Educational & Marketing Resources

A host of resources are available through NASA and other agencies. What follows are links to marketing &

educational resources.

Apollo Photos, Videos and Audio

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/apollo50th/index.html Visit this site to get Apollo photos, videos and audio – including the full CBS TV broadcast of the lunar landing and first steps –

with Walter Cronkhite.

Apollo 50th Anniversary Websites

Visit these sites for Apollo photos, 50th anniversary logos and info on all the Apollo missions: https://www.nasa.gov/apollo11-gallery https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-releases-logo-to-mark-apollos-50th-anniversary http://www.nisenet.org/moon50 https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/index.html .

NASA Education Resources

Search hundreds of resources by subject, grade level, type and keyword. This site is

designed for educators, students, and even a NASA Kids Club. Use the NASA Youtube Channel and join NASA Wavelength, a digital collection of resources for educators.

https://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/about/index.html https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9SM7V7J1pAhPabOUST01fw

NASA Space STEM Forum

Visit this site for a universe of resources related to Apollo 11, the moon, events, other STEM topics and future space exploration like the Moon to

Mars Mission. Activities and materials are designed for teachers, museums and students.

https://spacestem.nasa.gov/

NASA Space STEM Forum Resource Page

These are some of the categories listed on the Forum Resource Page. https://spacestem.nasa.gov/resources

We are all one The astronauts placed a plaque on the moon on behalf of all humankind.

This Marketing & Educational Guide was produced and compiled by MacGillivray Freeman Films for use in marketing and planning educational programs for Apollo 11: First Steps.

We hope your mission is successful!

first steps - franklin institute 11... · the computer era. at left is the now ancient apollo...

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