Today's students have never known anything else but a Space Age even though it's not so natural for most of their teachers. These teacher "baby boomers" have lived through and can remember most of the significant events of the beginning of the Space Age and how it has evolved from Sputnik I, to the race to the Moon, to exploring the Solar System, and now, the Universe.

World Space Week was created by the UN General Assembly in 1999 to celebrate and promote the peaceful uses of space and space technologies for the benefit of all mankind. This annual observance is held from October 4-10 with a special celebration this year of the 50th anniversary of the Space Age.

The start and end dates of World Space Week recognize the launch of the first human-made Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, on October 4, 1957; and the signing of the Outer Space Treaty that promotes the peaceful uses of outer space on October 10, 1967.

Activity: World Space Week provides a great opportunity for teachers to have students research some of the significant events that have occurred during the last 50 years: Sputnik I; the Moon Landing; the Challenger Explosion; the Hubble Telescope; the International Space Station; and the Mars Rover exploration. Of course, their students think that all this exploration is very natural without realizing all the history and technology that has lead to all these amazing events.

Essential Questions for Critical Thinking (teachers can create others):

1. What was the most significant space age event or invention in the last 50 years and why?
2. Who is your favorite astronaut and why?
3. What special training do astronauts have to go through?
4. What benefits to you and your family are a by-product of technology developed for space?
5. What other benefits do you see that will come from space exploration?

Pathfinder: Click the TECHNOLOGY icon > Space Technology. There will be a variety of subtopics that teachers can assign to students: lunar roving vehicle; MIR; robots; rockets; satellites; shuttle; simulators; space stations & space colonies; and telescopes.

Assign each student to a different subtopic. Assign each student to select three of the essential questions to answer by using at least three resources. Assign a written summary of 150 words or an oral (or PowerPoint) presentation of at least two minutes.

Halloween, or Hallowe'en, is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31. Traditional activities include trick-or-treating, costume parties, viewing horror films, visiting "haunted houses", and participating in traditional autumn activities such as hayrides (which may have "haunted" themes).

Halloween originated under the name of Samhain as a Pagan festival among the Celts of Ireland and Great Britain. Irish and Scottish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America in the nineteenth century. Several other western countries have embraced the holiday as a part of American pop culture in the late twentieth century.

Halloween is now celebrated in many parts of the western world, most commonly in Ireland, the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom and sometimes in Australia and New Zealand. In recent years, the holiday has also been celebrated in some parts of Western Europe.

Activity: ProQuest has created a BookCart to help teachers save valuable classroom and library time in searching for relevant results. Time saved in searching can be reinvested in more reading, writing, and presentation, the essential skills that students must have to succeed.

The new BookCart "Halloween Fun" provides a collection of age-appropriate articles and websites that students can use to learn more about Halloween history, costumes, games, treats, tricks, and safety to make their Halloween more fun. Of course they will also be developing essential language arts and research skills. This BookCarts integrates five examples of essential questions for critical thinking to motivate and guide students in the research process. Teachers can add others in the Description box if they wish.

Teachers should assign students three of the five essential questions listed in the BookCart (teachers can create their own). Students should select at least two resources to use in their reports/presentations. Oral reports of two minutes provide an opportunity for students to share knowledge as well as practice standards-based presentation skills.

How to copy this BookCart (or 80 others) to My Local Carts collection:

1. Click the ProQuest Carts tab > Elementary BookCarts folder
2. Click the Copy icon to the right of Halloween Fun > Return to My Local Carts
3. Look for "Copy of" in the prefix of the new BookCart
4. Edit it to remove "Copy of" and include your first and last name as Author before saving