Overview of NASA/STEP Curriculum Module-Summer 1998

I. Title of Module:

• Principles of Navigation

II. Author:

• Thomas Bryne

III. Grade Level:

• High School 9-12

IV. Students:

• Urban Minority

V. Purposes:

• Primary: To provide students with a program in which they will apply mathematical processes by interpreting and creating maps drawn to scale and in which they will be required to calculate accurate measurements of distances, elevations and compass directions using a variety of instruments and devices(e.g., compass, protractor, ruler, robotic device and Starfinder chart.)
• Secondary: To develop in the students an appreciation of the physical features in the students' environment, including topography, vegetation, sense of direction, and location and movement of celestial bodies.

VI. Overview

• Students will be introduced to basic concepts of navigation using map and compass and will work in the natural environment outside the classroom to practice the skills being taught. Students will create a scale map of an area on campus and will learn and employ basic techniques of orienteering. Students will apply measurement and mathematical skills by programming the WAO II robotic device to navigate courses designed by students. Students will be introduced to celestial navigation by learning about constellations and their place in the New York sky.

VII. Curricular Content Development:

Science Content Knowledge:

• Students will learn and apply principles relating to mapping the earth's surface: comprehension of map scales, map projections, latitude and longitude, contour lines, magnetic declination, and compass bearings. Students will become familiar with the movement and location of celestial objects in our sky and concepts of rotation, revolution, precession, declination and right ascension.

Technological and Societal Context of Inquiry:

• Students will employ compass and ruler to learn about direction and distances. Students will design and use an instrument to determine elevations, employing basic trigonometry. Students will become familiar with the WAO II robotic device, learning how to program it to move along a specified course. Students will become proficient in use of a Starfinder chart to locate constellations in the New York sky. These urban students will be taken to a wooded setting to apply orienteering skills and to give them an appreciation of the physical and living environment around them.

VIII. Teaching and Learning Approaches:

• Students will work in small groups of between two and four on practical exercises that incorporate concepts taught in the classroom. Many of the exercises will involve work outside the classroom taking measurements. Map reading segment will culminate with a day of orienteering inVan Cortlandt Park. Robotics unit will allow students to work as a team to experiment with the capabilities of their robot and to solve navigation challenges designed by the teacher and the teams themselves. Astronomy unit will utilize Star Lab, a portable planetarium that can accommodate a full class inside.

IX. Inquiry Skills:

Scientific Thinking

• Asks questions about natural phenomena; objects and organisms; events and discoveries.
• Uses concepts from Science Standards 1 -4 to explain a variety of observations and phenomena.
• Uses evidence from reliable sources to construct explanations.
• Evaluates different points of view using relevant experiences, observations, and knowledge; and distinguishes between fact and opinion.
• Identifies problems; proposes and implements solutions; and evaluates the accuracy, design and outcomes of investigations.
• Works individually and in teams to collect and share information and ideas.

Scientific Tools & Technology

• Uses technology and tools (computers, rulers, balances, thermometers, watches, magnifiers, and microscopes) to gather data and extend the senses.
• Collects and analyses data using concepts and techniques in Math such as average, data displays, graphing variability, and sampling.

Scientific Communications

• Represents data and results in multiple ways, such as numbers, tables, graphs; drawings, diagrams, and artwork; and technical and creative writing.
• Uses facts to support conclusions.

Scientific Investigation

• A systematic observation, such as a field study.
• Invent a design, such as a building model, or scientific apparatus.

NASA/STEP Module - Lesson 1/ Day 1

Objectives:

• To learn how to read a topographic map and use a compass.

Skills to be developed: Students will be able to:

• Identify latitude and longitude coordinates of a point on a map.
• Determine elevations on a contour map.
• Use a compass to calculate a bearing on a map and translate that bearing to a direction on the ground.
• Orient a map using a compass.
• Calculate distances on a map.
• Determine the appropriate map scale needed to map a specified area.

Concepts:

• Map grid systems (latitude and longitude)
• Map scales
• Compass directions
• Magnetic declination
• Map projections

Teaching and Learning Approaches:

• Students will work individually and in groups of three and will be given specific exercises to perform with topographic maps and compasses.
• Maps to be used include detailed orienteering map of Van Cortlandt Park and USGS quadrangle map of an area in Colorado.
• Compass is an orienteering compass

Materials and Resources:

• USGS quadrangle maps of Colorado, orienteering maps of Van Cortlandt Park, compasses, rulers and calculators.

Activities and Procedures:

NASA/STEP Module - Lesson 2/ Day 2

Objectives:

• To learn how to calculate elevations of natural or man-made features using trigonometry.

Skills to be developed: Students will be able to:

• Measure angles with a protractor.
• Solve basic trigonometry problems
• Design and use an instrument that can measure an angle of elevation
• Measure the angle of elevation to the top of a building or a tree.
• Use the tangent formula to calculate elevations.

Concepts:

• Tangent formula
• Accuracy of measurements (angles and distances)

Teaching and Learning Approaches:

• Students will work in groups of two in the classroom and in groups of four in the field. Classroom discussion will introduce/review trigonometry and students will then practice measurement of angles in class and in field.

Materials and Resources:

• Table of trigonometric values (0° - 90° ), Protractors, String, Washers, Straws, Scissors.

Activities and Procedures:

NASA/STEP Module - Lesson 3/ Day 3

Objectives:

• To create a map to scale

Skills to be developed: Students will be able to:

• Itemize tasks necessary to complete assignment of mapping an area of campus to scale.
• Delegate tasks to members of group so that field measurements can be completed within allotted time.
• Take accurate measurements of distances and angles of elevation.
• Calculate an appropriate map scale to be used to map selected area.
• Transform measurements on the ground to measurements on a map.
• Prepare a map to scale.

Concepts:

• Taking accurate field measurements and transforming those actual distances and angles of elevation to measurements on a map to scale.

Teaching and Learning Approaches:

• Students will work in groups of four or five. Students will go to a designated area on campus and obtain the field measurements need for map. Students will map the 100 meter by 80 meter area on paper that is 45 cm by 65 cm.

Materials and Resources:

• Student designed instruments for measuring angle of elevation; rulers; paper; colored markers/pencils; compass

Activities and Procedures:

NASA/STEP Module - Lesson 4-5/ Day 4-5

Objectives:

• To gain experience using a robotic device and to learn how to program the robotic device to perform a task.

Skills to be developed: Students will be able to:

• Measure distances and angles along a course that will be traveled by a robotic device.
• Translate those measurements into instructions that can be programmed into the robotic device to enable it to navigate the course.

Concepts:

• The programming of a robotic device to travel a prescribed route

Teaching and Learning Approaches:

• Students will work in groups of three. Each group will receive a WAO II device (manufactured by Movit) and will familiarize themselves with the capabilities of the robot. The groups will be given identical courses, drawn on paper 90 cm by 130 cm, and will compete in an attempt to be the first to have their robot successfully navigate the course. The groups will then design their own courses, show that their robot can navigate the course, and swap designs with another group and proceed to master the new course with their robot.

Materials and Resources:

• Paper, tape, protractors, rulers, WAO II device, sufficient battery supply (9 volt and AA).

Activities and Procedures:

NASA/STEP Module - Lesson 6/ Day 6

Objectives:

• To learn how to read an orienteering map

Skills to be developed: Students will be able to:

• Read contour lines on a contour map.
• Identify and locate natural and man-made features based on interpretation of map symbols.
• Measure distances on a map and transform those distances to a number of paces on the ground.
• Calculate a bearing between two points on a map and find that direction on the ground.
• Locate controls in wooded area of park using orienteering map and compass.

Concepts:

• Map scales, contour lines, map symbols, compass bearings

Teaching and Learning Approaches:

• Teacher will place 20 to 25 coded controls in wooded area of Van Cortlandt Park. Controls are assigned point values based upon distance from starting point and difficulty of location. Students will work in groups of three. They will be given compasses, orienteering maps of the Park and a detailed clue sheet showing the location of the controls. Groups will plan a route through the specified area of the park, trying to accumulate the maximum number of points by locating as many controls as possible in the allotted time. Students will be required to complete and turn in a preliminary plan of their expected route prior to leaving starting point. Students will record the codes at each control they locate during the exercise. (See attached forms used in the exercise.)

Materials and Resources:

• Orienteering maps of Van Cortlandt Park with controls located on them; Compasses; control clue sheet, control code sheet; water supply.
• The following forms

Control clue sheet:

CLUES