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Space Hotel Set to Open in 2012

Subjects

Arts & Humanities
--Language Arts
Science
--Physical Science
----Earth Science
--Space Science
Social Studies
--Current Events

Grades

Grades 2-up

News Content

Got $4.4 million? You could be one of the first to stay at the worlds first space hotel.

Anticipation Guide

Ask students to raise hands if they have ever stayed in a hotel. Invite some of those students to share their favorite hotel experiences. Then, as you distribute copies of this weeks News for You story, ask students if they might ever wish to stay in a hotel in space?

News Words

Next, introduce these words that appear in the News Word Box on the students printable page: galactic, passenger, reserved, schedule, destination, and experience. Discuss the meanings of any of those words that might be unfamiliar. Then ask students to use one of those words to complete each of these sentences:

  • Sylvia was a _____ aboard the bus bound for the Grand Canyon. (passenger)
  • Glen didnt get the job because he lacked _____ in mechanical engineering. (experience)
  • We will _____ your next dentist appointment for July 12. (schedule)
  • Yoda, Chewbacca, and C-3PO are just three of the _____ heroes of the Star Wars saga. (galactic)
  • My mother _____ two tickets for a flight to Florida this winter. (reserved)
  • The pilot couldnt land at his _____ because the airport was fogged in. (destination)

    Read the News

    Click for a printable version of this weeks news story Space Hotel Set to Open in 2012.

    More Facts to Share

    Galactic Suite Space Resort
    You might share this video, which tells the story of a trip to the Galactic Suite Space Resort:

    Then you might share these additional facts after students have read this weeks news story.


  • Reading the News

    You might use a variety of approaches to reading the news:

    Read aloud the news story to students as they follow along.

    Students might first read the news story to themselves; then you might call on individual students to read sections of the news aloud for the class.

    Photocopy the news story onto a transparency and project it onto a screen. (Or use your classroom computer's projector to project the story.) Read the story aloud as a class, or ask students to take turns reading it.

    Arrange students into small groups. Each student in the group will read a paragraph of the story. As that student reads, others might underline important information or write notes in the margin of the story. After each student finishes reading, others in the group might say something -- a comment, a question, a clarification -- about the text.

    Galactic Suite, Ltd., a company based in Barcelona, Spain, is planning to build the first hotel in space. Galactic Suites CEO, Xavier Claramunt, says the hotel will put his company at the forefront of an infant industry with a huge future ahead of it. Space travel will become common in the future, Claramunt says.
  • Galactic Suite plans to transport travelers to space via Russian rockets from a spaceport to be built on a Caribbean island. The spacecraft will reach speeds in excess of 17,000 miles per hour as it speeds toward the space hotel that will orbit 450 miles above Earth.
  • Each pod of the space hotel will be able to hold four guests and two astronaut-pilots.
  • Critics have questioned the project, saying the timeframe is unreasonable. Claramunt insists it is doable, and he says an anonymous billionaire space enthusiast has granted $3 billion to finance the project.
  • Other companies are joining the space travel business too. Spaceport America, the world's first facility to carry paying customers into space, is being built in New Mexico. Led by British tycoon Richard Branson, the firm will carry tourists into suborbital space at a cost of $200,000 a ride. So far, 300 people have paid or signed up to make the trip, which does not include a space-hotel stay.

    Use the News

    Print out this weeks Use the News printable activity page for students. Or use the questions on that page to check student comprehension.

    Use the News: Answer Key
    Comprehension Check. 1. T, 2. F, 3. F, 4. T, 5. F, 6. F, 7. F, 8. F, 9. F, 10. T.
    Main Idea. The first trip to a space hotel is scheduled for 2012.
    Vocabulary Builder: Idioms. Accept reasoned responses, for example: 1. soften his probable refusal, compliment, or flatter; 2. only partly planned, or insufficiently thought-out; 3. give away the secret, or let information out before its time; 4. for a pittance, or a small amount of money.

    Follow-Up Activities

    Language arts. For additional practice with idioms, use this lesson idea:
    Understanding Idioms Is a Piece of Cake

    Assessment

    Use the Use the News" comprehension check as an assessment. Or have students work on their own (in their journals) or in their small groups to respond to the Think About the News question on the news story page.

    Lesson Plan Source

    Education World

    National Standards

    LANGUAGE ARTS: English
    GRADES K - 12
    NL-ENG.K-12.2 Reading for Understanding
    NL-ENG.K-12.3 Evaluation Strategies
    NL-ENG.K-12.4 Communication Skills
    NL-ENG.K-12.12 Applying Language Skills

    SCIENCE
    GRADES K - 4
    NS.K-4.4 Earth and Space Science
    NS.K-4.5 Science and Technology
    GRADES 5 - 8
    NS.5-8.4 Earth and Space Science
    NS.5-8.5 Science and Technology
    GRADES 9 - 12
    NS.9-12.4 Earth and Space Science
    NS.9-12.5 Science and Technology

    See recent news stories in Education Worlds News Story of the Week Archive.
    Article by Gary Hopkins
    Education World®
    Copyright © 2009 Education World

    11/19/2009


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