Starter quiz
- What is the name of the rover that this book is focused on?
- Adventure
- Journey
- Pursuit
- Curiosity ✓
- Wonder
-
- Mars is also known as the __________ planet?
- blue
- red ✓
- yellow
- green
-
- True or False? Scientists believe that Mars once had lakes and rivers.
- True ✓
- False
- How far is a typical journey to Mars?
- 350 miles
- 3500 miles
- 3, 500, 000 miles
- 350, 000, 000 miles ✓
-
- Which of the following does a rover need to function on Mars?
- a power source ✓
- oxygen
- communication to Earth ✓
- food
- water
-
- What is a suitable definition for the word inhospitable?
- totally clean
- not suitable for living or visiting ✓
- everything is just right for something to happen
-
Exit quiz
- Match the keywords to their definitions.
- non-fiction⇔a genre of text which presents real events, information, or knowledge ✓
- features⇔distinctive characteristics that belong to a text type ✓
- impression⇔initial feelings about a person, place or thing, gained from reading ✓
- What did the rover team not want the Curiosity to take with it to Mars?
- bacteria ✓
- a testing kit
- a nuclear-powered battery
- hazard cameras
-
- Match the words that are found in the text to their definitions.
- sterile⇔clean and free from any germs or contaminants ✓
- expendable⇔something that is used up or consumed and cannot be reused ✓
- orbit⇔the path that an object takes around another object ✓
- Which route did the rover take on its flight to the Kennedy Space Centre?
- California → South Carolina
- Utah → New York
- California → Florida ✓
-
- Sequence the following events in the rocket’s launch in chronological order.
- 1⇔four boosters detach
- 2⇔the rocket clears the Earth’s atmosphere. It is now in space
- 3⇔nose cone breaks off
- 4⇔only the module remains
- True or False? Timing of the launch was not important.
- True
- False ✓
Worksheet
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Presentation
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- ‘Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover’ is a non-fiction narrative text.
- It contains some, but not all of the features readers might expect from a non-fiction text.
- When creating the Curiosity rover, the scientists and team at NASA had to plan for lots of different eventualities.
- The Curiosity rover had to conduct its own experiments; it needed all the equipment it required to be sent with it.
- To be successful, the team tested for many years, until the rover was ready to launch on the 26th November 2011.
Common misconception
Pupils may think that every mission succeeds in its aims due to the time, money and investment from scientists.
Draw reader's attention to the amount of time the team took to test the rover and the several failed attempts. Adults could link these processes to the processes the pupils complete in science (e.g. fair testing, hypothesising).
Keywords
Non-fiction - a genre of text which presents real events, information, or knowledge.
Features - distinctive characteristics that belong to a text type
Impression - initial feelings about a person, place or thing, gained from reading a text
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