Have students analyze the time line to identify events referenced in the article.Which nation sent the first man to the Moon?.Which nation had early success in the “Space Race”?.What two nations were involved in the “Space Race”?.After reading the narrative, have students answer a few reading comprehension questions such as:.This could be done individually, in groups, or as a whole-class read-aloud. Have students read the historical narrative The “Space Race” in the 1960s.Part I: Reading an Informational Text and Analyzing a Time Line The activities are drawn from a more extensive lesson entitled Race to the Moon! In this lesson, students will read an informational text, examine a time line, and play a chronology game. “The “Space Race” in the 1960s” historical narrative for students.The President escalated the space program and set the goal to send an astronaut to the Moon by the decade’s end. Although publicly congratulating the Soviet Union on achieving such a milestone, President Kennedy quickly sought ways to demonstrate American superiority. Although the United States matched the feat with its own satellite a few months later, tensions grew when the Soviets reached another first by launching Yuri Gagarin into orbit on April 12, 1961. Space was another place for the two nations to demonstrate technological superiority and leadership.Īmericans were shocked when the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite in 1957, intensifying fears that the United States was falling behind the Soviet Union in technology and arms. However, it is helpful to introduce the concepts of the Cold War and space exploration by showing students a map of the United States and the former Soviet Union and images of the Moon and the first moonwalk.Įarly space exploration was fueled, in part, by the Cold War competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. This is a stand-alone lesson and does not require any specialized knowledge or skills. Identify key information about the “Space Race.”.
Kennedy Presidential Library and Museumĭownload this lesson plan, including handouts, as a pdf. For strategy gamers and space enthusiasts alike, this is a keeper. I bought this game when it came out in 1992, then the CD-ROM version in 1993 (which contains 600MB of rare historical footage, and is worth a find), and the game never left my hard drive since. Overall, Buzz Aldrin is an incredible experience that's also educational, but be warned that it is an extremely difficult game- even with the best rockets and astronauts money can buy, you will experience frequent mission failures that seem unreasonable. Do you forego the crucial test missions because you're lagging behind? Or recruit more "green" astronauts? Configure every flight in detail- from rocket types to flight plans. The game excellently captures the feel and complexity of 1960s space programs. Do you follow history or cut your own path to glory? Make Pete Conrad's dream come true with a Large-Earth-Orbital Gemini lunar pass mission! Make von Braun's Nova pipe dream a reality! Will this United States land on the moon first? Or will the Russians continue to dominate space and plant the red flag on the moon first? You determine which space hardware to research and develop and then you actually schedule and launch individual space missions.īuzz Aldrin's Race into Space offers twenty different approaches to the moon. You get to recruit and train 140 astronauts and cosmonauts and determine which ones have the "right stuff". and the U.S.S.R., and can plan and direct every conceivable space mission: sub-orbitals, orbital manned and unmanned planetary and lunar flybys LEM tests lunar passes lunar orbits and lunar landings. As Space Director of either NASA or its Russian counterpart, you have at your disposal the entire space inventories of both the U.S.A. It recreates all the excitement of every space mission using digitized footage from lift-offs, space walks, lunar landings and splashdowns. Doubtless one of the most original strategy games I've ever played, Buzz Aldrin's Race into Space is a computer simulation of man's greatest adventure, the race to the moon, based on designer Fritz Bronner's own obscure board game Lift Off!.