It's hard for today's "baby boomer" educators to believe that they have witnessed the beginning of the space age. From Sputnik I to many of the major events that have occurred in the last 50 years, today's teachers have seen it all: the Moon Landing; the Challenger Explosion; the Hubble Telescope; the International Space Station; and the Mars Rover exploration.

Of course, students think that all this exploration is very natural without realizing all the history that lead to all these amazing events and technologies.

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: SIRS Decades helps take your students back in time to the beginnings of the Space Age. Let them explore the events as they were perceived by those people who were alive at that time.

Assign each student (or team) to a different era to ensure a variety of reports. Assign at least three of the essential questions listed below (you can create others) to each student to integrate in their report/presentation. Students should cite at least three resources.

Oral or PowerPoint reports provide an opportunity for student to share information and learn from each other's research. Oral reports also develop essential standard-based and 21st Century language arts skills.

Pathfinder 1: Click 1950s > Science and the Space Race
Pathfinder 2: Click 1960s > Science and Space
Pathfinder 3: Click 1970s > Science, Education and Health
Pathfinder 4: Click 1980s > Science, Education and the Computer Revolution

Essential Questions for Critical Thinking

• What major event(s) occurred in this decade that relate to the space age?
• What were the motivations for these events by the U.S. and Soviet Union?
• What were the challenges that needed to be overcome to achieve the success?
• What new technologies needed to be developed to achieve this successful event?
• What were the immediate and long-range benefits of these successful events?
• How is your life today affected by these events, discoveries, and new technologies?