Designed to inspire and capture the imagination of students, the Moonwalk mediascape project was located in a school playing field in Bradford. It was designed for Key Stage 3, to be completed in a one-hour lesson.
The playing field had a map of the moon's Alphonsus Crater superimposed on it.
Each pair of students used a PDA and a two-way radio when using the mediascape. Inside the crater there were four 'sectors' and four equipment dumps. The students had to carry out a number of tasks.
They could measure the height of a communications antenna using a clinometer and find the volume of some 'moon rocks' using a measuring bucket and some sand.
They were given a bag of 'moon dust' weighing 250 grammes and then had to calculate the weight of three more bags.
Using a micrometer they could measure a footprint in 'moon dust' (a plaster cast model).
To collect the appropriate kit for each task, they had to visit the various equipment dumps, and for assistance, they could radio Mission Control.
Mission Control requested project status reports throughout, and let the students know how their 'oxygen supplies' were doing.
Students had to take at least one or two training sessions before they were ready to carry out their first Moonwalk mission.
Moonwalk Update - Alan Beecham, Education Bradford (Nov 2006)
During the Summer Term 2006 the Y9 students at Immanuel Community College, Bradford worked on an ICT Space Project. While some students consulted data bases to pick the ideal Shuttle crew, worked on space flight logistics using spreadsheet modelling or wrote programs to control lunar explorers, a group of students were trained to carry out a moon walk mission.
Tailored to fit into three one hour lessons the students were firstly introduced to the equipment: handheld computer, Bluetooth GPS receiver, two way radio, two pairs of headphones and various wires and splitters plus the 'Create-a-Scape software'. The students worked in pairs, the navigation officer and the communication officer, and when everything was connected and switched on both students could hear information from the computer and the radio.
In the second lesson they were introduced to the mission objectives. They had to explore an area of the Moon near the Alphonsus Crater. They knew there were four equipment dumps with homing beacons and four task zones. They had to measure the height of a communication antenna, the volume of some moon rocks, the dimensions of a footprint and solve a problem to do with the weight of moon dust.
On week three they walked on the Moon! On the handheld computer they could see a picture of the Alphonsus cater area of the moon. The GPS software made the blue spot that represented their position move over that picture as they moved around their school playing field. They visited the dumps to collect appropriate equipment to enable them to complete the various tasks. They kept mission control informed of their progress via the radio and mission control kept each Moon Rover pair informed of how much oxygen they had left and hence how much time they had to complete their mission.
During the mission de-brief the students reported back on how successful they had been on achieving the mission objectives. The moon walkers agreed that they had really enjoyed the project and had a much greater understanding not only of how the mission tasks could be completed but also of how all the equipment worked and interacted. They commented on the fact that as the wires physically held them together in pairs they really had to work as a team and cooperate with each other.
The main question was when could they have another go.
In the next project the students will write their own mediascape and they where already coming up with ideas such as 'noughts & crosses', a walk round a painting or a field plant guide. We await the outcomes with eager anticipation.