3.3 The story of the space race

History

Grade 4

How transport has served mankind

Module 12

The story of the space race

Once people had managed to travel across continents and oceans, they started making attempts to travel through the skies and to reach the stars and the planets. In the beginning these efforts involved competition between individual people. Later the efforts became space expeditions undertaken by teams from different countries.

In this unit, we'll be doing exercises that will help you to have a better understanding of time.

The well-known French writer Jules Verne was a man with a remarkable imagination and great insight. He had written his famous book, From the Earth to the Moon, in 1866. Read the following extract from this amazing story.

Jules Verne

Activity 1

To understand time [lo 2.1]

A)read the following story and then work with a partner to match the sketches with the correct captions.

A group of artillery officers established the Cannon Club after the American Civil war. They hoped to launch a rocket that would reach the moon! Forty countries donated money for this project. The cannon that would launch the rocket weighed 68 000 tons. The projectile, which was named Columbiad, was as big as a railway carriage. A hole was dug in the ground to mount the cannon. (The launching was to take place near the town of Tampa, not far from the present Cape Kennedy.)

The three space travellers wore spacesuits consisting of top hats, trousers and jackets. Two dogs, Diana and Satellite, were to accompany them, because they expected to be breathing ordinary air. Gas was only used for lighting and heating. Meals consisted of roast potatoes and various tasty dishes.

When the massive cannon blasted the rocket into space, the space travellers lost consciousness for a while. The spectators who watched the launching lost their hearing and were deaf for a few days following the event, because of the level of the noise. The Colombiad orbited the moon several times. Because of the extreme cold on the dark side of the moon, ice formed inside the craft. The spacemen drew accurate maps of the moon and reported that there were no visible signs of life on the moon.

The Colombiad plunged into the Pacific Ocean at the end of its voyage and the crew was picked up out of the sea by an American warship. All the trains of the American railway system were taken out of service for four days so that the famous space travellers could travel through the country on a special train. They were received as heroes wherever they went.

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• Do you think the clothes that the spacemen wore would have been warm enough for their voyage?
• Conduct a class quiz. Each team must work out questions about this amazing imagined flight.

B)study the following time line and sketches concerning the story of the space race. then do the activities that are suggested.

Activity 2

To understand time [lo 2.1]

A)arrange the sketches that are supplied in the correct sequence. you could summarise this illustration with the help of the information from the previous time line.

B)work in your groups to arrange the following sketches in the correct chronological sequence with the help of the clues given below.

• What has become of Laika?

Assessment

LEARNING OUTCOME 2: HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING The learner will be able to demonstrate historical knowledge and understanding.

Assessment standard

We know this when the learner

2.1 understands chronology and time:

• is able to use general concepts in stories about the past (old, new, before, after);
• understands words such as history and archaeology ;
• is able to arrange objects, artefacts and pictures in a particular order;
• is able to demonstrate how, over time, certain aspects changed/remained the same;
• begins to use words like past, myth, truth.

Memorandum

a) a) 2 d) 3

b) 4 e) 1

c) 5

a)

b) 5, 3, 4, 6, 2, 1