Lesson Plan: Lessons From the Challenger Tragedy

Subjects:

Physical Science, Civics & Government

Lesson Duration:

• 2 class periods
• Day 1: Parts 1 and 2; Day 2; Parts 3 and 4

Essential Questions:

• What makes an effective rocket design?
• What considerations go into successful rocket development and design?

Lesson Objectives:

Students will:

• Review the history of rocket design leading up to World War II.
• Examine the causes of the Challenger and Columbia accidents and the responses to the disasters by NASA.
• Create and test a simple model rocket.

Materials:

• Retro Report video “Lessons from the Challenger Tragedy” (Transcript)
• Student Activity handout
• Excerpts from:
  • Brief History of Rockets | NASA
• Simple rocket supplies:
  • Pencil (1 per student)
  • Scissors (1 per group)
  • Tape (1 per group)
  • Soda straws (plastic or reusable) (1 per student)
  • Meter stick or measuring tape (1 per group)
  • Optional: Chart paper (6 large pieces) to post on classroom walls

Procedure:

1. Share the Student Activity handout with students. For part 1, students (individually, or in pairs) will read excerpts from NASA’s Brief History of Rockets and then make a sketch of the device described, focusing on its contribution to the understanding and/or use of rockets.
   1. As an alternative, divide students into 6 groups, assigning each group a different excerpt. Instruct students to individually read/ sketch only the assigned excerpt – then cut and tape their sketch onto chart paper designated for the excerpt.
2. Students will then watch the video “Lessons from the Challenger Tragedy” (Transcript) from Retro Report and answer the corresponding questions on the handout.
3. In part 3, students engage in basic rocket design (straw rockets): Students will visualize the basic ideas of how rockets are governed by Newton’s Laws of Motion by constructing a rocket with a body tube formed around a pencil and a choice of fin shapes.
   1. This activity was modified from the original activity from NASA. You can see the original including full images of rocket construction here.
   2. Caution: The rockets will have a pointed end (the nose cone), so it is advisable to manage the class so that rockets are not fired at each other. Eye protection like goggles are advisable.
4. As students build and test their rockets, have them complete the data record sheet on the activity handout. They will need to calculate the average distances of rocket flight and compare their findings with other students. Distances will vary widely depending on the rocket construction. A long hallway is useful for testing and measuring distances.
5. Part 4 of the handout has follow-up questions to be completed individually or in pairs.
   1. Gather average distances for different fin shapes from your classmates. Discuss the differences in flight distances due to the fin shapes. Which fin shape performed well?
   2. Are rocket fins necessary in outer space? Why or why not?
   3. Newton’s First Law describes how an object acts when no force is acting upon it. The straw rockets did not move until you applied a force (your breath) through the straw. Once the rockets started in motion, what forces were applied that made them stop and drop?
   4. According to Newton’s Second Law, the more mass an object has, the more force is needed to move it. A larger rocket will need stronger forces (more fuel) to make it accelerate. How would a change in the mass of your straw rocket (more tape, paper, etc) affect the force that you need to apply to make it fly?
   5. Newton’s Third Law states, “every action has an equal and opposite reaction.” In a rocket, burning fuel creates a push on the front of the rocket pushing it forward. This creates an equal and opposite push on the exhaust gas backwards. Give an example of how Newton’s Third Law of forces in action-reaction could be applied in your everyday life.
   6. Suggest ways that you can make your rocket fly farther.
   7. Have students share their answers; particularly their suggestions for how to make the rockets fly farther.

Extension Activity:

1. Rocket launch challenge | Science Learning Hub: Students can change rocket parameters of mass, thrust, and drag to make a rocket go as high as possible and launch a payload 400 km above the ground.
2. Rocket Lab | National Air and Space Museum: Students play a lead rocket engineer for a space exploration company. They can choose rocket shape, propellant, control mechanisms and number of stages to virtually launch their rocket. –
3. Christa’s Lost Lessons Newton’s Laws | NASA: Christa McAuliffe was chosen to be the first teacher in space. Due to the Challenger disaster in 1986, she did not film the science lessons in space as planned. Educators-turned-astronauts, Joe Acaba and Ricky Arnold, spent the 2017-18 school year aboard the International Space Station for A Year of Education on Station. As a tribute to McAuliffe and her legacy, Acaba and Arnold completed her mission. The demonstrations were filmed aboard the International Space Station and corresponding lessons were developed for classrooms. Ask students how they think Newton’s Three Laws would apply to the apparent weightlessness of being on the International Space Station.
   1. Then show them the demonstrations that were recorded for each Law: Christa’s Lost Lessons: Newton’s Laws | NASA STEM (YouTube)
4. In the case of the Challenger, rubber O-rings were used to form seals inside the fuel tank. Because it was so cold the night before and morning of the Challenger launching, the O-rings became rigid and failed to expand, forming a gap for the gas to leak through, instead of sealing the joint. The leaking gas caught fire, and quickly escalated into the Challenger Disaster. The fact that these O-rings perform poorly in freezing temperatures, becoming brittle and rigid was demonstrated by physicist Richard Feynmann at a hearing of the Rogers Commission which investigated the causes of the Challenger accident.
5. Many of the early uses of rockets were for warfare and multiple countries now have a presence in space. The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) was begun in 1959 to review and foster international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space. Ask students to review the 1967 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies and chat with their small group about which parts they find most interesting or make connections to. Discuss as a large class why this provision was necessary.
6. Have students write a short position essay about whether the pros (benefits) outweigh the cons (downsides) of developing new space ships and new missions to visit asteroids and solar system planets.
   1. Essay components:
   2. Starting position about whether the pros outweigh the cons.
   3. What are the 2 best reasons that we should or should not continue manned missions to the planets?
   4. Write supporting information for your position.
   5. Write a second detail that supports your position.
   6. The following writing pro/con statements will assist in making arguments about their positions.
   7. Pros (Yes):
      1. Robotic exploration is limited in completing all of the tasks that may need to be done on other planets or asteroids.
      2. Understanding the climate history of other planets may help us better understand Earth.
      3. Engineering advances will help to make more reliable launch vehicles that can go long distances safely.
      4. Life on Earth may be threatened some day to the point that we will need to find another habitable place.
      5. Humans are adaptable and can use technology to overcome the harsh conditions of other planets.
      6. [Add your own pros.]
   8. Cons (No):
      1. Sending humans to space for long periods of time is hazardous.
      2. Having a presence on other planets may increase the potential source of international conflicts
      3. There are still many risks for launch vehicle accidents that will cost human lives.
      4. The money used for planetary missions should be used for needed investments on Earth.
      5. Other planets have harsh conditions such as different gravity, temperature differences, radiation and lack of oxygen that will make it hard for humans to survive.
      6. [Add your own cons.]
   9. You may also ask students to support their position with references. Here are a some resources:
   10. The cost of going to space: To cheaply go: How falling launch costs fueled a thriving economy in orbit | NBC News
   11. The cost of the space shuttle program: How Much Did it Cost to Create the Space Shuttle? | The Planetary Society
   12. Using robots in space exploration: Robots vs. Humans: Who Should Explore Space? | Scientific American
   13. 5 Hazards of Human Spaceflight | NASA
   14. Hazards of an asteroid strike: Earth at higher risk of big asteroid strike, satellite data suggest | Science
   15. How many astronauts have died in space? | Astronomy

About the Author:

Peg Steffen is an award-winning former middle and high school science teacher, curriculum writer, education program manager for NASA and NOAA’s National Ocean Service, and managing editor of The Earth Scientist, the journal of the National Earth Science Teachers Association.

Standards

Next Generation Science Standards

• HS-PS2.A: Forces and Motion

• • Newton’s second law accurately predicts changes in the motion of macroscopic objects. 
  • Momentum is defined for a particular frame of reference; it is the mass times the velocity of the object.   
  • If a system interacts with objects outside itself, the total momentum of the system can change; however, any such change is balanced by changes in the momentum of objects outside the system. 

• HS-ETS1-3 Engineering Design

• Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.

• MS-PS2.A: Forces and Motion

• • • For any pair of interacting objects, the force exerted by the first object on the second object is equal in strength to the force that the second object exerts on the first, but in the opposite direction (Newton’s third law).
    • The motion of an object is determined by the sum of the forces acting on it; if the total force on the object is not zero, its motion will change. The greater the mass of the object, the greater the force needed to achieve the same change in motion. For any given object, a larger force causes a larger change in motion.
    • All positions of objects and the directions of forces and motions must be described in an arbitrarily chosen reference frame and arbitrarily chosen units of size. In order to share information with other people, these choices must also be shared. 

• ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems

• • The more precisely a design task’s criteria and constraints can be defined, the more likely it is that the designed solution will be successful. Specification of constraints includes consideration of scientific principles and other relevant knowledge that are likely to limit possible solutions.

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies

• D2.His.14.9-12. Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past.
• D2.His.1.9-12. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts. 
• D2.Civ.13.9-12. Evaluate public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes, and related consequences.