EXPLORATION KINDNESS
Your Mission
Problem: How can I find my space height?
How tall are you? Are you sure you know the answer? Does your height change in your life, and how much time does it take for your height to change?
So, how tall are you? That seems like a fairly easy question to answer. However, did you know our height changes throughout the day? In fact, our height changes from morning to night. It really has very little to do with the sun and moon, though. Instead, our height becomes less – yes, we shrink – as the day goes on because gravity compresses our bodies. When we lie down at night, gravity no longer pulls in a direction to make us shorter so our bodies stretch and we return to our taller height again. Imagine what happens to astronauts who don’t experience the effect of gravity for months at a time! That’s right; they grow taller. In fact, NASA Astronaut and MissionX ambassador Kate Rubins grew from her "Earth height" of 171 cm to her "space height" of 174.4 cm.
In this NASA video from NASA's Human Research Program, NASA astronaut Mike Barratt and NASA Principal Investigator Sudhakar Rujulu discuss how the body changes in space while explaining the science behind the activity, "What's Your Space Height?"
Ages: 8-12
Topic: Measurement, units
Time: 45 minutes, two classes
Standards:
Measure lengths indirectly and by iterating length units. Solve problems involving measurement and conversion of measurements.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.NBT.A.2 fluently add and subtract within 1000 using strategies and algorithms based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction.
Lesson Objective
Students will:
- Measure their body for height, leg length and arm span
- Compare measurements for their class
Teachers Note
Suggestions for student engagement: To help engage the students, have them discuss times people have been kind to them, or people with who mthey want to share their kindness. Examples to assist in the duscussions can be astronauts or soldiers being away from their families or people who are not with their families during holidays, etc. Also to be shared are examples highlighting the giving nature of humanity following natural disasters. Students can watch the attached video of a Mission X school team hosting a fundraiser and creating a video for another team from the USA whise city was flooded during Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
Background


Engage


In this activity, you and your crew members will measure your height and discuss the factors involving how your bodies might change in space. This is just like what astronauts do in space. Astronauts must take scientific measurements, work as a team, and clearly communicate with others. In fact, just like in this activity, astronauts measure their bodies when in space, too!
Safety: This activity has no reasonable associated safety risks.
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