Have you ever thought
about what you would do if you could no longer live on Earth?
What are the chances of an asteroid hitting earth like the
one that hit 65 million years ago killing off the dinosaurs?
Living in an orbiting space station may be one answer.
This course is designed
to guide you through the process of designing and building
a representation of an orbiting space settlement. Space colonies
are permanent communities in orbit, as opposed to living on
the Moon or other planets. The work of Princeton physicist
Dr. O'Neill and others have shown that such colonies
are technically feasible, although expensive. Settlers of
this high frontier are expected to live inside large air-tight
rotating structures holding hundreds, thousands, or even millions
of people along with the animals, plants, and single celled
organisms vital to comfort and survival. There are many advantages
to living in orbit: zero-g recreation, environmental independence,
plentiful solar energy, and terrific views to name a few.
There is plenty of room for everyone who wants to go; the
materials from a single asteroid can build space colonies
with living space equal to about 500 times the surface area
of the Earth.
Why should colonies
be in orbit? Mars and our Moon have a surface gravity far
below Earth normal. Children raised in low-g will not develop
bones and muscles strong enough to visit Earth comfortably.
In contrast, orbital colonies can be rotated to provide Earth
normal pseudo-gravity in the main living areas.
While designing
a space colony, students will have a chance to study physics,
mathematics, space science, environmental science, and many
other disciplines. Projects may include essays, stories, models,
and artwork. Students will work independently and cooperatively
in teams to design entire colonies or focus on one aspect
of orbital living. In
addition, teams will have the ability to work collaboratively
with students in other middle schools to develop a joint project.
New this year! You will have the opportunity to develop a
joint project in "3D virtual space" with students from an
other middle school over the Internet.
Computers will
be used for online research in designing colonies, using graphics
and sound, and animation and 3D renderings. Students will
also learn HTML coding to design a Web page to share your
project with others. Possible field trips will be to NASA/Ames
Research Center, Space Camp facilities, and computer companies
focusing on 3D computer design. The class will culminate with
each team submitting their design and model as entries in
the NASA sponsored Space Settlement Design Contest.
COMPUTER CREATIONS
This course is recommended
for students who have grade level reading and writing skills,
as well as the ability to work independently. This is a self-paced,
applications and project-oriented course. Students will design
a series of animations, create academic teaching programs
that can be used in their core classes and design interactive
computer games. There will be a final project where students
will work in teams like professional computer programmers
in collaboration to produce a final project. Students will
"roll out" their "products" to the public
on presentation day at the end of the semester. Students will
be using HyperCard, FlashMX, Poser 4, Dorector 8 and True
Basic. They will learn how to program text, sound, create
3D animation, music and create and import graphics in various
forms.
WEB PAGE DESIGN
This is a project-based
class where positive, self-motivated students will learn
real
world technology connections through collaboration and group
work. Students analyze what makes a good web page, then
use
their new knowledge to create web pages using the latest
multimedia design programs, such as Dreamweaver MX, Photoshop
LE, Flash
MX, Director 8 and iMovie. In addition, students will learn
to use HTML coding and Java applets to enhance their
projects.
