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WebQuest: Where in space ?

Introduction

May 23^rd 2025

Well done! Your family has been chosen to join the space-ship ready to leave on the first pioneering trip to start a settlement on another planet. It has not been decided yet whether to put the first space station on Mars, Venus or the Earth’s Moon. Before making the final decision on the destination for this mission your family has the opportunity to provide input into the location. You will need to consider the following factors in your decision: the needs of your family, climate, visual appeal, available natural resources, and the effects of gravity on human activities.

Your task

Decide on the best possible location for a space settlement. To help you organize your data, please use the table below. When your research has been completed, present your findings in the form of a Kid Pix slideshow.

To start you on your quest try the following locations:

http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/welcome.htm

http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/express.html

http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/solar_system.html

Good luck!

Captain Sheila Starlight.

You must use a word processing package such as Claris to cut and paste your findings then arrange your information clearly under the headings in the table below:

	Climate	Natural Resources	Visual Appeal	Gravity
Venus
Mars
Moon

The following Web sites will help you complete the table above. However you will also need to research from Books and CD-ROMS.

http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/express.html

http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/venus.html

http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/mars.html

http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/moon.html

http://www.hawastsoc.org/solar/eng/homepage.htm

Your Report

Now you are ready to tell about the information that helped you reach your final decision. Remember, Captain Starlight would like you to use a Kid Pix slideshow to present your information. Don’t forget to consider the needs of all your family members.

Here is what you should include:

Title slide
Climate slide
Visual appeal slide
Natural resources slide
Gravity effects slide
Concluding slide