GSRA Cadets,
It is time for your second project of the year, and this one is designed to help you become more knowledgeable about some aspect of human space exploration. Your assignment is to choose a “real” book on some aspect of space travel, read the book and take notes, and then present an interesting part of the book to your classmates.
In choosing a “real” book, you are not to read a children’s book or story book, but instead something written by an astronaut, historian, or other individual with firsthand knowledge of events. On the bottom of this page, I have provided some sample book titles, but you do not have to choose your book from my list. However, since these books are written for adults, the first step is to have your parents help you choose the book you would like to read and obtain their approval. Then, you will bring me the name and author of the book so I can approve it as well. Since I would like each of you to choose a different book, you should also have a backup in case another student in your class has already been approved to read your “first choice” book.
Once your book has been chosen and approved, the next step of the project is to read your book and take notes. You will fill out the attached reading log which will allow you to keep track of dates, page numbers, and minutes you are reading; this log will be turned in as part of your project grade. As you read, you will also need to stop at the end of each chapter and write a summary; please keep all of your chapter summaries in a spiral notebook or composition notebook that will be turned in on the day you present your project.
After you have finished reading the book and taking notes, it will be time to plan your 4-6 minute class presentation. I would like you to learn how to make presentations without reading directly from Power Point slides, so for this project you will not be allowed to make a Power Point or use notes in any way. This does not mean that you have to memorize your entire presentation; instead you should learn the material well enough that you can teach it to others and talk about it in a conversational manner. Instead of trying to cover the entire book in 4-6 minutes it would probably be best to focus on the part you found most interesting. I would like you to add to the creativity of your project by including props and a costume.
Since there will be several steps involved in completing the project, we will be using a long range planner to help keep you on track. You will need to have this long range planner signed for each due date, even if Target is not meeting that week. Please read your rubric carefully so that you will be able to seek excellence in your project and understand how you will be graded. Both the long range planner and rubric will be affixed in the “notes”notebook you will be turning in and will be part of your final grade. Have fun as you delve deeper and learn more about a space exploration topic you find interesting!
Commander Garvin
In case you need an additional reading log to keep track of your minutes an pages, you may download one here: Download Additional Pages for Reading Log
Book List
I have read many of these books, but not all of them. Therefore, it is very important that your parents look through the book you would like to read and make sure that all content is appropriate.
The Mercury Thirteen- Martha Ackmann
Failure is Not an Option-Gene Kranz
Comm Check, The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia-Michael Cabbage
High Calling- Evelyn Hubbard
John Glenn A Memoir-John Glenn
Promised the Moon-Stephanie Nolan
Apollo Thirteen- Jim Lovell
Riding Rockets-Mike Mulane
Sixteen Minutes from Home- Mark Cantrell
Moonshot-Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton
Live from Cape Canaveral-Jay Barbree
Sky Walking-Tom Jones
For Spacious Skies- Scott Carpenter
Two Sides of the Moon: Our Story of the Cold War- Alexi Leonov and David Scott
In the Spirit of Ronald E McNair-Carl McNair
Space Exploration and Disasters-Richard Lawrence
Carrying the Fire, An Astronaut’s Journey-Michael Collins
The Last man on the Moon-Gene Cernan
Deke, An Autobiography-Deke Slayton
We Seven, By the Astronauts Themselves-Scott Carpenter
Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home- Buzz Aldrin
Falling to Earth: Al Worden
Starman: The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin- Jamie Doran
Light This Candle- Neal Thompson
First on the Moon-Neal Armstrong
Moonwalker-Charlie Duke
Korolev: How One Man Masterminded the Soviet Drive to Beat America to the Moon- James Harford
Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ignited the Space Age-Matthew Brezinski
Space Race-Deborah Cadbury
The Right Stuff-Tom Wolfe
Rocket Men-Craig Nelson
First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong- James Hansen
