Summer SAVY, Session 3 Day 4, “Finding “Faults” in Media: The Geology of Disaster Movies” (7th-8th)
Good evening, SAVY parents! I can’t believe there is only one day left of this SAVY session! Today was focused on Space Science and space travel (both past and future). The students learned a little bit about the history of space travel and some of the major landmark achievements along the way. We watched clips from The Martian and Apollo 13, and I think these might have been the students’ favorite movies so far. We followed this up with a brief discussion about the ethics of space travel, and the students had lots of great commentary.
After lunch, the students were able to do a last round of internet research to continue working on their final projects. I keep hearing great movie ideas as I walk around the room and chat with the students! Tomorrow they will finish their projects and present them to their peers.
One of the more fun parts of the day was everyone creating their own mission to Mars! The students used iPads to research past Mars missions for inspiration and decided what they wanted to accomplish with their mission, where it would go, and what instruments they would need to use. Some of the students even drew pictures of their spacecraft!
Here are some “dinner time questions” for you all if you want to encourage your kid to share what they did:
- What was the most important technological advancement that allowed us to go to space?
- Have them tell you about their Mars mission!
- Do you want to live on another planet? Do you think we should colonize other planets?
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s final project presentations tomorrow!
Best,
Dr. Rodgers
P.S. the book that The Martian is based on is quite good–I would recommend it if your student wants to keep thinking about some of the themes we have discussed after our class is over.