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Teacher Information

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Students need to develop adequate background knowledge to effectively understand the concept of gravity. On board the ISS there is a microgravity environment - the effects of gravity are very small and objects weigh almost nothing. Comparing a gravity-rich environment (on Earth) to a microgravity environment (in space) gives students an underlying understanding of why research is done in space. Background information can be obtained from the International Space Station: Science web page. Clicking on the microgravity link from that page gives one a clear understanding of what microgravity is. On the Microgravity Research Program homepage, you can read about microgravity research that is being done, including information about the microgravity glove box.
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/science/index.html
http://microgravity.nasa.gov/

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Lesson Ideas

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Free Falling in Space - a slide show from NASAkids that explains the concept of zero gravity and free fall, including an example comparing a ball thrown on earth and a ball thrown in space. Before viewing this activity, you can take your students outside and videotape them throwing a ball. By viewing the tape in slow motion, you can show the path of the ball as it is pulled to the earth by gravity. http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/science/freefall.asp

News: Mossy Spirals - a current events article that discusses a moss-growing experiment that took place on board the Columbia in 1997. This experiment was being repeated on STS-107. The information from that experiment may have been downlinked, but the physical information was lost. You may want to check back to see the updates. In class, grow moss and examine it under a microscope to study the patterns of its growth. Compare your class results to those that Dr. Fred Sack found in his experiments. You may want students to take digital photographs to track the growth of the moss.
http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/news/2002/news-moss.asp

Have students go to the Your Weight and Age on other Planets site or the How to Caluclate Your Wieght on Another Planet site in order to calculate how different their weights and ages would be on other planets. Using a spreadsheet program, such as Microsoft Excel, students can input their weight and/or age, then use formulas to calculate what their weight/age would be on other planets. You may opt to have students weigh various objects and use those weights as opposed to using the actual child's weight. After calculating these figures, go to Your Weight on Other Worlds OR How Much Would you Weigh on Another Planet? to check the weight calculations.
http:vathena.arc.nasa.gov/curric/space/planets/agewt.html
http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/Puzzles/howweight.html
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/weight/
http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/Puzzles/Weight.asp
Directions for Using Excel (avi video file)

Zero Gravity Experiments - links to descriptions and photographs of microgravity experiments. This site is very in depth and may be used as a resource for students who need challenges.
http://zerog.jsc.nasa.gov/