Cynthia Vaskis
SLM521 Spring 2004
Web Quest Assignment
File: wqteachr.htm
Suggestions for using the Web Quest
The teacher may want to
spend several class periods on this Web Quest.
One Process Part could take at least one class period each and maybe
another to hold the small discussion groups for each Process Part that requires
it. The Part 5 robot design effort could
take the student several days or be a homework assignment. The robot building process could take a month
of extra homework time and could be done with several students working together
to build one robot that meets several goals.
The video clips mentioned below could also take up half of a class
period to watch the Autonomous Traversal of the Mars Rover and any NASA FIRST
robot competition prerecorded video clips.
Teacher Preparation for class by downloading videos.
Have the class together watch the Mars rovers
traversing the terrain video (7 minutes) which shows how the rovers figure out
where to move safely.
This video clip takes at least a half hour or more
to download and needs to be ready to show the class at the start for Process
Part 1.
See the top level NASA page
for the rovers at http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/ and look under [all videos] and
The NASA competition games
web sites (FIRST) under Part 4 have video clips that the teacher might want to
select to download before hand. They need
Real Player or Windows Media software to run but are very fun to watch,
especially for a class to see them on a big screen display. NASA was encouraging annual competition in
different
The NASA
competition games web sites (FIRST) under Part 4 have video clips that the
teacher might want to select to download before hand.
http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/robotics/first/ucf-regional-2004/
FIRST Robotics Competition from Atlanta,
GA
http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/robotics/
Robotics Education
Project - FIRST
http://robotics.nasa.gov/first/2004/nationals.htm
http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/chevents.htm
Slashdot FIRST
Robotics Championship Underway
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/04/17/1334209
http://www.usfirst.org/
Links to Process parts of the Web Quest
Part 1 - Learn
about the Mars rovers Spirit and
Part 2 -
Where robotics is used in other space programs (Space Shuttle and International
Space Station)
Part 3 -
The government’s plans for robotics in future space exploration
Part 4 -
Who is building robots and how is NASA encouraging them to compete for best
robot designs
Part 5 -
Student designs their own robot on graph paper or the computer (drawing tool)
Part 6 -
Learn about the history of robotic space exploration to Mars
Web Quest Resources List and Search Engine Links
Resources Page
– The list of many web sites about space exploration and some Earthly places to
get robotic parts (LEGO)
www.google.com www.yahoo.com www.aol.com www.altavista.com
www.msn.com www.lycos.com www.AlltheWeb.com www.netscape.com
Evaluation Rubric Chart
Rubric Chart
- See how to evaluate the student
success in the Web Quest.
Class Supplies to Complete the Web Quest
The student will need some Graph paper
or a computer drawing tool to design the robot in Process Part 5 and access to
previous Dropin#1,
Dropin#2,
and Dropin#5
information (could be printed out ahead of time as the diagrams associated with
these dropins) for how to draw and label their robot design.
Contact NASA, their top web sites, Space camp, and
space-related News web sites
An email
address to talk to someone at NASA about its programs
NASA most used Mars
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov
Space Camp
Everything
space... all in one place! – Space Camp
http://www.spacecamp.com/spacecamp/
Additional News and Media sites for space exploration
information and current events
NASA in the
News – The Vision for Space Exploration
http://www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/explore_main.html
NASA
Planning Steps To Moon, Mars
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nasa-04h.html
NASA
planning steps to moon, Mars - (United Press International)
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040227-020000-7936r.htm
USATODAY.com
- NASA goes lunar Robot craft, human outpost plans
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-03-04-lunar-outposts_x.htm
General
News media sites
http://www.washingtontimes.com
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/
Question Answers
Comment
about Question Answers – The
information changes daily with the Mars Rovers so that the required answers to
the questions may also change except for the facts about the identical rovers
design which can be found in detail at the web sites listed. This information is too lengthy and detailed
to list here. The two universities
mentioned are MIT and Carnegie Mellon who have robotic programs. NASA was offering $250 for a robot design and
encouraging annual competition in different US cities where people would test
their robots against each other. See the
video clips for the Florida competitions and Atlanta, Georgia FIRST robotic
competition mentioned in above (top of this page) and in Part 4. This is why some Process Parts hold small group discussions because
there is so much information to review and it helps the students to practice group cooperation needed in
any work situation that plans, designs and builds space application
robots. The teacher should review the
News sites to get the latest stories on the Mars Mission and the rovers as well
as the listed NASA sites.