NAUTILUS EDUCATION | BETA PRODUCT
Astronomy & Space Travel
How would we travel nearly five light years? This article explores different engineering solutions to the puzzle of taking a very, very, long trip, intertwiming science-fiction goals with real world solutions. Students will explore fanciful applications of Newton’s second law, and concepts of momentum, ions, and nuclear fusion.
Lesson Plan
Review vocabulary words in class. Have students read the article and answer the reading comprehension ques- tions for homework, as well as generate a discussion question of their own. In class, address any conceptual questions that the class might have. Have students write discussion questions on the board, along with the ones suggested in this document. Have students break up into small groups, each of which should address one of the discussion questions. 15 MIN
Dedicate the remaining class time to completing one of the activities. 30-45 MIN
Teacher’s Notes: Roadmap to Alpha Centauri
VOCAB WORDS
Magnetic field: produced by a magnetic material or a Nuclear fusion: when two or more clusters of neu- current, a magnetic field will push or pull a moving trons and protons collide, forming a new nucleus and charge or magnet that comes in contact with it. releasing energy.
Ton: an atom in which the number of electrons and
protons is unequal—thus, the atom is positive or READING COMPREHENSION
negative. . What does AU stand for? Momentum: the product of the mass and velocity of meeo’s sane an object. 2. How fast is Voyager 1 moving in miles per hour? Recoil: the backward momentum from a fired gun. 3. “The engine first strips propellant atoms [typi-
cally xenon] of their outermost electrons.” What
Plasma: one of the four fundamental states of matter, . . is the charge of a stripped xenon atom?
composed of ions and electrons.
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