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Sensors,Circuits,andSatellitesTeacher’sGuide

Sensors,Circuit,andSatellitesisacollectionofclassroomlessonscreatedbyNASA’sAuramissioneducationandoutreachthatexploretheelectromagneticspectrumandNASAremotesensinginstrumentsusingstudentassembledcircuits.Theselessonsintegrateinquirywithactive-learningexperiencestoengagestudentsinthepropertiesofelectromagneticenergyandremotesensing.TheinvestigationsaresequencedtohelpthelearnerconstructtheirknowledgeabouttheelectromagneticspectrumwhileofferingrealworldexamplesfromNASA.Credits:Dr.DeborahRoberts-Harris,Dept.ofTeacherEducationattheUniversityofNewMexicoGingerButcher,SeniorNASAEducationSpecialist,ScienceSystemsandApplications,Inc.DevelopedincollaborationwithlittleBitsElectonics™viaanInternalResearchandDevelopment(IRADFY13-297)awardfromNASAGoddardSpaceFlightCenterandcontinuedcollaborationunderNASASpaceActAgreementSAA5-2013-3-N15210t

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Teacher’sGuideThepropertiesandcharacteristicsofelectromagneticenergyarefundamentaltoallNASAmissionsandtheirscience.NASA’sscientificinstrumentsonboardspacecraftandairplanescollectdataonhowelectromagneticwavesbehavewhentheyinteractwithmatter.Electromagneticenergytravelsinwavesandspansabroadspectrumfromverylongradiowavestoveryshortgammarays.Thehumaneyecanonlydetectonlyasmallportionofthisspectrumcalledvisiblelight.NASA’sscientificinstrumentsusethefullrangeoftheelectromagneticspectrumandthesedatacanrevealthephysicalandchemicalcompositionofmattertohelpscientistsstudytheEarth,thesolarsystem,andtheuniversebeyond.ForbackgroundontheElectromagneticSpectrum,visithttp://missionscience.nasa.gov/ems/Theselessonsaredesignedtointegrateinquirywithactive-learningexperiencestoengagestudentsinthepropertiesofelectromagneticenergyandremotesensing.TheinvestigationsaresequencedtohelpthelearnerconstructtheirknowledgeaboutenergyandtheelectromagneticspectrumwhileofferingrealworldexamplesfromNASA.

ThelessonscompiledinthisguideweredevelopedusingelectronicsdevelopedbylittleBitsElectronics,buteachlessonincludesalistofalternatematerials.AcompanionsetofactivitiesareavailableonlineinthelittleBits™SpaceKitbookletandincludesfiveactivitiesthatinvestigateenergyandthepropertiesofwavesandfivebuildprojectsthatdemonstrateNASAtechnology(satelliteorbits,spacegrapplingdevice,Marsrovers)andbasicscienceprincipleswithmathconnectionssuchasthespeedoflight(starchartprojector)andparabolicreflectors(satellitedish).Thesebuildactivitieshavesupplementalmathactivities.

NoteaboutMaterials:

TheSensors,CircuitsandSatellites’lessonsweredevelopedincollaborationlittleBits™ElectronicsbyNASAeducators.ThelittleBits™componentsareopen-sourceandschematicsforthecomponentscanbefoundathttps://github.com/littlebitselectronics/eagle-files.Alternativematerialstoconducttheselessonsarelistedwithinthelessonsunderalternatematerials.RegardingSafety:ThecomponentsusedintheselessonsaremanufacturedbylittleBitscomponentshavepassedproductsafetytestingbyAnsecoGroup,anindependentaccreditedlaboratoryregisteredwiththeU.S.ConsumerProductSafetyCommission,forgeneraluseEducationalScienceKitsforages8+.Foradditionalinformationregardingsafety,pleasecontactlittleBitsviatheirwebsiteathttp://www.littlebits.com/

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DescriptionofLessonsLesson1:WaveGeneratorThislessonusessoundtodemonstratehowenergytravelswaves.Studentswillinvestigatesoundenergycreatedbyvibrationsofaspeakerandvisiblyexperiencetheenergyasvibrationscreatewavesinaliquid.Conceptsofwavelengthandfrequencyareintroduced.Lesson2:EnergyMeterThislessonintroducesstudentstolightasaformofenergy,differentthansound.Theinvestigationwillleadtodiscoveringexistenceofenergy(light)wecan’tseeasanintroductiontothebroaderelectromagneticspectrum.Lesson3:MeasuringtheAtmosphereThislessonisademonstrationaboutthescatteringoflightwaves.Studentswillinvestigatehowscatteringoccurswhenlightreflectsoffanobjectindifferentdirections.Studentswillobserveasimulationofhowlightwavesareaffectedwhentravelingthroughtheatmosphere.Conceptsofbehaviorsoflightincludingscattering,absorption,andtransmissionareintroduced.Lesson4:DigitalCommunicationsThislessonisademonstrationaboutelectromagneticenergyandhowthatenergyistransferredviavisibleandIRlightwavestosoundenergy(digitalsignals).Studentswillinvestigatehowthelengthofthewaveaffectshowlightenergyistransmitted.Conceptsofdigitalsignal,visible,infraredormicrowavewavesareintroduced.

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NextGenerationofScienceStandardsTheNextGenerationofScienceStandardswerefinalizedinApril2013basedontheNationalResearchCouncil’s(NRC)FrameworkforK-12ScienceEducation.TheFrameworkdescribesavisionofwhatitmeanstobeproficientinscienceandpresentsthreedimensionsthatwillbecombinedtoformeachstandard:

• Dimension1:Practices• Dimension2:CrosscuttingConcepts• Dimension3:DisciplinaryCoreIdeas

Inthefollowinglessons,middleschoolstudentswillcontinuetodevelopunderstandingofthe8practicesofscienceandengineeringanddemonstrateunderstandingofthecorephysicalscienceideasofwaves,energyandtheelectromagneticspectrum.Theseinvestigationswillincludestudentsdevelopingandusingmodels,planningandconductinginvestigations,analyzingandinterpretingdata,usingmathematicalandcomputationalthinking,andconstructingexplanationsandseveraloftheengineeringpracticesincludingdesignandevaluation.These8practicesareinherentwithineachlessonbydesign.(referencesidebar“8-practices”)

Relatedcrosscuttingconceptsarestatedatthestartofeachlesson.Thesehaveapplicationacrossalldomainsofscience.Assuch,theyareawayoflinkingthedifferentdomainsofsciencesuchaspatternsandstructureandfunction.TheFrameworkemphasizesthattheseconceptsneedtobemadeexplicitforstudentsbecausetheyprovideanorganizationalschemaforinterrelatingknowledgefromvarioussciencefieldsintoacoherentandscientifically-basedviewoftheworld.

DisciplinarycoreideasfocustheK–12sciencecurriculum,instructionandassessmentsonthemostimportantaspectsofscience.Ofthefourdomainsofdisciplinaryideastheselessonsaddressideaswithinthephysicalsciences-specificallywavesandelectromagneticradiation.Additionally,theyprovidecontexttohowtheseconceptsareusedbyscientistsintheearthandspacesciences.Inherenttothecompanionbuildprojects(activities6-10inthelittleBits™Spacekit)areconnectionstoengineering,technologyandapplicationsofscience.

Atthemiddleschoollevel,thePS4DisciplinaryCoreIdeafromtheNRCFrameworkisbrokendownintoWaveProperties,ElectromagneticRadiation,andInformationTechnologiesandInstrumentation.WithintheperformanceexpectationsinthetopicWavesandElectromagneticRadiation,studentsformulateananswertothequestion,“Whatarethecharacteristicpropertiesofwavesandhowcantheybeused?”(see“WaveGenerator”and“EnergyMeter”lessons).Studentsareabletodescribeandpredictcharacteristicpropertiesandbehaviorsofwaveswhenthewavesinteractwithmatter(see“MeasuringtheAtmosphere”lesson).Studentscanapplyanunderstandingofwavesasameanstosenddigitalinformation(see“DigitalCommunication”lesson).Thecrosscuttingconceptsofpatternsandstructureandfunctionareusedasorganizingconceptsforthesedisciplinarycoreideasandareaddressinthelessonswithdigital

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signals,spectralsignatures,andwaveproperties.Theseperformanceexpectationsfocusonstudentsdemonstratingproficiencyindevelopingandusingmodels,usingmathematicalthinking,andobtaining,evaluatingandcommunicatinginformation;andtousethesepracticestodemonstrateunderstandingofthecoreideas.

8PracticesinNextGenScienceandEngineeringStandards

1.Askingquestions(forscience)anddefiningproblems(forengineering)2.Developingandusingmodels3.Planningandcarryingoutinvestigations4.Analyzingandinterpretingdata5.Usingmathematicsandcomputationalthinking6.Constructingexplanations(forscience)anddesigningsolutions(forengineering)7.Engaginginargumentfromevidence8.Obtaining,evaluating,andcommunicatinginformation

NationalResearchCouncil.AFrameworkforK-12ScienceEducation:Practices,CrosscuttingConcepts,andCoreIdeas.Washington,DC:TheNationalAcademiesPress,2012.

TheselessonplansapproachteachingtheNextGenerationScienceStandardsusingthe5-Econstructivistmodel.Eachlessonisstructuredsuchthatstudentscanexploreandconstructtheirownunderstandingoftheconcepts.

Engage:capturestudents'attentionandrecallpriorknowledge

Explore:activitytointroduceconcept,aninvestigation

Explain:discussionofconcept,analysisoftheirexploration

Extend:applyconcepttorealworldsituation,expandtheirunderstanding

Evaluate:ashortactivitytoassessstudents'understanding

Throughtheselessonsareintendedforgrades5-8,weencourageyoutocustomizetheactivitiestofityourclassandcurriculum.Dependingonyourstudents'priorknowledge,youmaychoosetoexpandoromitcertainactivities.Wehopetheseinvestigationsenableyoutointroducenewandexcitingscienceconceptstoyourstudents.Happyexploring.