"Monday Moon Days" in the Classroom

With both the historic Moon mission of Artemis I, and Apollo’s 50th anniversary happening now, I was inspired to create a thematic unit for my students with the Moon in mind. As a graduate student who has undertaken deep study of outdoor and environmental education, the Moon is a topic I personally feel passionate about as content that stands to awaken wonder and excite students about STEM. As part of my graduate work, I am also pursuing formal teacher certification and believe this topic will be an outstanding way to leverage the resources and impact that NASA has made regarding this subject matter. During my student teaching semester (fall 2022) in rural Alaska, I aim to use these resources as a source of inspiration and inquiry for my students as we learn to observe the Moon and its phases. We will track and document our findings, learn about patterns and predictions, and incorporate the local Yup’ik language.

This proposal is relevant to NASA due to applicable current events and desire to increase interest in STEM related work fields. I aim to support the mission of NASA through student inspiration, innovation, and relevant and rigorous instruction on scientific inquiry and scientific literacy. I am eager to take this unit into my classroom and apply local practices that are relevant to education in Alaska, specifically rural-bush Alaska.

Lesson Plans and Reflection attached.