Saturn Educator Guide

Successfully launched at 4:43 EDT on the morning of October 15, 1997, NASA's Cassini Mission to Saturn, is the most ambitious deep space mission ever. The Saturn Educator Guide enables this extraordinary mission to become a real-world motivational context for learning standards-based science in grades 5-8.

Overview of Guide Contents

  • Lessons

    Six standards-based, constructivist lessons.

  • Enrichments

    Relevant connections to art, poetry and mythology.

  • Appendices

    Questions and Answers: 101 questions posed as students would ask them
    Glossary: Over 90 well-defined technical terms
    Chart of Saturn's position in the sky over the course of the Cassini mission
    Electromagnetic Spectrum
    Educator Resources: References to books, WWW-sites, videos, CD-ROMS

Download the complete Saturn Educator Guide in one ZIP file by clicking below.

Download

Lesson Descriptions

Lesson 1: The Saturn System (3 hrs)

Students learn the basic concept of a system and work with a scale model of the Saturn system. Math skills: using a scale model, measurement, computation, estimation, and number sense.

Science Content Standards Addressed:

  • Unifying Concepts & Processes
    Systems, Order and Organization
  • Science as Inquiry
    Abilities Necessary to do Scientific Inquiry
  • Earth & Space Science
    Earth in the Solar System

Lesson 2: Saturn's Moons (3 hrs)

Students use data on the 18 moons known to be orbiting in the Saturn system to discover patterns and important relationships between physical quantities in a planet-moon system. Math skills: number sense, controlling variables, recognizing patterns, and measurement.

Science Content Standards Addressed:

  • Unifying Concepts & Processes
    Systems, Order and Organization
  • Science as Inquiry
    Abilities Necessary to do Scientific Inquiry
  • Earth & Space Science
    Earth in the Solar System

Lesson 3: Moons, Rings, and Relationships (3-4 hrs)

Students explore the fundamental force of gravity and how it acts to keep objects like moons and ring particles in orbit. Math skills: measurement, number relationships, recognizing patterns, creating and interpreting graphs.

Science Content Standards Addressed:

  • Science as Inquiry
    Abilities Necessary to do Scientific Inquiry
  • Physical Science
    Motions and Forces
  • Earth & Space Science
    Earth in the Solar System

Lesson 4: History of Saturn Discoveries (3 hrs)

Students examine how scientists throughout human history have learned about Saturn. They learn how scientific knowledge evolves and how technology has improved our ability to solve Saturn's mysteries. Math skills: number sense, measurement and scaling (creating a timeline).

Science Content Standards Addressed:

  • History & Nature of Science
    Science as a Human Endeavor
    History of Science
  • Science & Technology
    Understandings about Science and Technology
  • Earth & Space Science
    Understandings about Science and Technology

Lesson 5: The Cassini Robot (3-4 hrs)

Students explore the capabilities of a robot like the Cassini spacecraft. They compare its robotic functions to human functions.

Science Content Standards Addressed:

  • Unifying Concepts & Processes
    Form and Function
  • Science & Technology
    Abilities of Technological Design

Lesson 6: People of the Cassini Team (1.5-2 hrs)

Students use a diverse collection of profiles of people who work on the Cassini mission to learn about science as a human endeavor, and to reflect on their own career goals.

Science Content Standards Addressed:

  • History & Nature of Science
    Science as a Human Endeavor
  • Science in Peronal & Social Perspectives
    Science and Technology in Society

Explore More!

For more information on the Cassini mission, visit the Cassini Web site. For more information and images of Saturn, check out JPL's Cassini Picture Archive.