For Teacher - Lessons

The Apollo Lunar missions were an important part of man's exploration of space. In the future the Moon may be a very important base for exploration into deep space. The lessons included in the "curriculum" section are intended to help students explore the Lunar Module, Apollo Missions, and the Moon.

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Lunar Module Graphing Activity

Objectives -Overview To have students discover more about the rock and soil samples collected during the Apollo Missions. To have students graph the weight of rock/soil collected during the lunar landings. Activities Make the reference links or written information about the Apollo missions available to students. Ask them to make a hypothesis about which of the Apollo Missions they think returned the largest number of rock and soil samples (weight-wise)? Why? Have students find out which missions used the lunar rover and see if they can determine why the LR vehicle might have made a difference in collection procedures. The total sample weight from all the lunar missions was 381.7 kilograms (840 pounds). Have students find the weight of rock and soil samples from each of the Apollo Missions 11-17. Links to the missions will give them information regarding the number and weight of samples collected. Have them graph the results. See if their hypothesis match the actual results. See this Apollo Missions Graph to check the findings. Extensions: Where are the rocks and soil samples being kept now? See The Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility at Johnson Space Center What have we learned from the samples? See the 10 Top discoveries from the Apollo missions.