fbpx
Home Blog Page 1173

Lesson of the Day: ‘NASA’s Perseverance Rover Lands on Mars to Renew Search for Extinct Life’

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Lesson of the Day: ‘NASA’s Perseverance Rover Lands on Mars to Renew Search for Extinct Life’

First, pose a question you would like to know the answer to, such as: How does NASA design a Mars mission? Why is Mars the best planet on which to look for signs of past life? What are other countries looking for on Mars?

Then, see what you can discover through research. One place to start is The Times’s Mars topic page, or perhaps one of these past articles:

You might also visit the NASA website for more Perseverance news and information. You can sign up for NASA’s Mission To Mars Student Challenge, where you will learn how to design, build, launch and land a Mars mission.

Additionally, using Instagram on your smartphone, you can .

Finally, report back to your class about what you learned. Did you find the answer to your question? What additional questions do you now have?

Option 2: Why does the NASA mission matter?

The cost for the Perseverance rover is $2.7 billion. Do you think space exploration and research are worth the high price tag? Would you fund this and future explorations of Mars? Why or why not? How important is it to search for alien life? How skeptical or hopeful are you that the current NASA mission will uncover life?

In an Opinion essay, “Aliens Must Be Out There,” Farhad Manjoo argues we should be looking for extraterrestrial life:

The sun is not special. I know that’s a churlish thing to say about everyone’s favorite celestial body, our planet’s blazing engine and eternal clock, giver of light, life and spectacular Instagram backdrops. Awesome as it is, though, the sun is still a pretty ordinary star, one of an estimated 100 billion to 400 billion in the Milky Way galaxy alone. And the Milky Way is itself just one galaxy among hundreds of billions or perhaps trillions in the observable universe.

Then there’s Earth, a lovely place to raise a species but, as planets go, perhaps as unusual as a Starbucks in a strip mall. Billions of the Milky Way’s stars could be orbited by planets with similarly ideal conditions to support life. Across all of space, there may be quintillions of potentially habitable planets, or even a sextillion — which is more than the estimated grains of sand on all of Earth’s beaches.

So isn’t it hubris to assume that we’re the only life around?

It concludes:

Aliens are almost certainly out there, and finding even circumstantial evidence of other beings — even long-dead civilizations — would alter humanity in deep ways, almost certainly for the better. We might gain perspective on our most intractable problems, we might discover novel technologies, and we might learn of unseen dangers in our future.

All we have to do is open our eyes and look.

Do you agree with Mr. Manjoo? Do you think it is “hubris to assume that we’re the only life around”? Do you believe that life exists — or has ever existed — somewhere besides Earth? Is it worth searching for life on Mars or other planets and celestial bodies?

Option 3: Do you want to travel to space?

Have you ever dreamed of becoming an astronaut or working for NASA? Are you fascinated by outer space or space travel? Why do you think so many of us are captivated by space and its mysteries?

South Africa Youth@Work – Empowering Young People with the Power of Alison

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
South Africa Youth@Work – Empowering Young People with the Power of Alison

[email protected] is a South African organisation devoted to providing access to work placement, internships and educational programmes to young people in South Africa. [email protected] is both an Implementation Partner of the state’s Youth Employment Service and an Alison collaborator. The Alison Blog caught up with [email protected]’s Director Erica Kempken, as well as two successful [email protected] graduates, to find out more about this inspiring project and to learn how free education and training are helping to empower young South Africans.

[email protected] prides itself on producing “employable, empowered, and well-rounded individuals”. By providing young people with quality hosted placements in school settings, [email protected] give young South Africans the opportunities to gain invaluable experience in teaching as well as other skills fundamental to running a school, such as accounting. They also facilitates dynamic and supported work experience with small businesses and local initiatives. As well as gaining access to all-important experience, all participants are paired with supervisors who provide mentoring and coaching.

[email protected] uses Alison’s free online learning to help empower the young people they’re helping set out on the road to employment. “We have been collaborating with Alison for almost two years now and have had many of our youth complete a number of the courses on the Alison platform,” says Director Erica Kempken. “Since September 2020, we have youth registering for the courses through the portal on our website. We have noticed the value of the courses to our youth and would like to strengthen our work with Alison and promote the courses more widely.”

[email protected] avail of Alison Groups, a tool which allows them to monitor the progress of their students by seeing what courses they are taking and the grades they are achieving. “The Groups functionality works well,” says Erica. “We use it as a tracking tool. The capability of seeing how far an individual has progressed is useful and allows us to engage with the youth to explore why they are not progressing further.”

 

[email protected] have provided over 1200 young people with placements this year and foresee huge growth in the immediate future as the covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the crisis in South African education, as well as exacerbating the challenge many young South Africans face in gaining employment. However despite the pandemic conditions, [email protected] have had countless success stories in the last twelve months, including Sabelo Ngcobo and Molemo Mashigo.

Sabelo Ngcobo is from the province of KwaZulu-Natal, south of Durban. After matriculating from high school, he studied Business Administration as well as Financial Literacy with ABSA bank. 

Sabelo, tell us about your experience with [email protected]

“I got involved with the [email protected] programme through my previous college, where I was studying Business Administration. After finishing my studies, I received a call from them telling me about the opportunity and I was happy to take it. My experience with [email protected] was amazing. Thanks to them, I now have two years work experience. [email protected] offered me the opportunity to be part of their programme and, through the programme, I was placed at a school as a teacher’s assistant for one year. After that year, I was offered a School Governing Body post for six months. (The School Governing Body is a committee elected by parents to represent them and to make sure that the school operates efficiently.) I also got the opportunity to be part of the presidential programme. (The presidential programme is an initiative by the President of South Africa to reduce unemployment.) 

How did you find using Alison?

[email protected] introduced me to lots of other helpful platforms to help me further my studies, like Alison. I enjoy studying through Alison and I have gained the following qualifications: Dealing With Difficult People In Life & Work, Diploma in Supply Chain Management, Merchandising and Data Capturing. Alison courses have helped me a lot in my career. I am now able to apply for different jobs and I also learned a lot from their courses that assisted me in growing my gardening business.

Where are you working now?

I am currently working for Mbalasi Primary School and I also have my own gardening services company and currently employ three people. My hope is that, in the future, I will be one of the most successful business people in KwaZulu-Natal.

Molemo Mashigois a football player, coach, photographer and graphic designer from Gauteng Province.

Molemo, how did you get involved with [email protected]?

“My [email protected] journey began in January 2020 with a workshop aimed at teaching us how to conduct ourselves as professional coaches. Coaches have a duty that is often overlooked by society. It’s considered unimportant that we coach children for a few hours each week but we play an important part in the children’s lives. We instill morals and values and build social skills. How we carry ourselves in our roles is important and this was highlighted during the course. A few weeks later I was fully introduced to Erica and the [email protected] team.”

How has [email protected] affected you?

[email protected] has greatly impacted me and it’s been a fun journey of discovery through the modules that [email protected] encouraged me to take. I could see the difference in myself as I was doing things with more purpose. I wasn’t just waking up, showing up for work and leaving but instead understanding the dynamics of a community and how everyone is important. 

Tell us about your experience of studying with Alison. What courses have you taken?

It was challenging in the beginning as, with self-study, there is no one there to baby you to study and complete courses. I was curious about Photography, Graphic Design and Social Media. The coronavirus course was also insightful and informative. The global pandemic has affected so many healthcare systems and economies and so much is rapidly changing. Alison courses encourage students to experiment and read more on the topics and to put theory into practice. I found using Alison Groups helpful during assessments. If we didn’t get it right the first time around, we could keep trying and guide each other.

How have Alison courses helped you in your career?

 So what am I doing with the knowledge I’ve gained? Well, I started Clueless – a sports show on Instagram appreciating women in sports. There are so many clueless people when it comes to women in sports, so I interview athletes and share their stories and break the stigma that women can’t be professional athletes. My show developed into Clueless Media – photography, videography and content creation for both events and products. I approach small and medium sized enterprises and offer to create a package that will assist them by giving them a professional look with custom logos and also marketing strategies to increase sales. This has all been made possible through pointers from Alison modules. I’ve brought it all together to improve my life. And not just for me, but for my parents, who are both well over sixty. The work enables me to provide medication, food and other essentials. It’s fulfilling because they have taken care of me all these years. Now its my turn to look after them.

Click here to learn more about South Africa [email protected] and the great work they’re doing to empower young South Africans through education and training.

Should We End the Practice of Tipping?

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Should We End the Practice of Tipping?

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.

Do you ever tip people for their service? For instance, after riding in a taxi, receiving a food delivery or eating at a restaurant? Why or why not? And if yes, how much money do you generally pay? A dollar? Ten percent? Twenty percent? More?

Have you ever received a tip while working? If so, did you feel pride or satisfaction? Or was it awkward or perhaps even insulting?

In your opinion, do you think tipping is an appropriate way to show gratitude and reward excellent service? Or is it an antiquated, unfair and harmful practice?

In “Tipping Is a Legacy of Slavery,” Michelle Alexander argues that we need to abolish what has become a subminimum wage for many workers, especially in restaurants:

Once upon a time, I thought that it was perfectly appropriate for restaurant workers to earn less than minimum wage. Tipping, in my view, was a means for customers to show gratitude and to reward a job well done. If I wanted to earn more as a restaurant worker, then I needed to hustle more, put more effort into my demeanor, and be a bit more charming.

I thought this even when I was a waitress, working at a burger and burrito joint called Munchies during the summers when I was a college student. Collecting tips gave me a certain satisfaction. I liked sweeping dollar bills and coins off tables into the front pocket of my blue apron. Each time someone left me a big tip, anything more than I expected, a tiny jolt of dopamine flooded my brain as though I had just hit a mini jackpot. I got upset when people stiffed me, walking out and leaving nothing or just pennies — a true insult — but whenever that happened I reminded myself that I might get lucky next time. Or I would do better somehow.

Never did it occur to me that it was fundamentally unjust for me to earn less than the minimum wage and to depend on the good will of strangers in order to earn what was guaranteed by law to most workers. I had no idea that tipping was a legacy of slavery or that racism and sexism had operated to keep women, especially Black women like me, shut out of federal protections for wage labor. I did not question tipping as a practice, though looking back I see that I should have.

Ms. Alexander describes how she grew to question and turn against the system and practice of tipping:

After I graduated from law school, I became a civil rights lawyer and began representing victims of race and gender discrimination in employment, as well as victims of racial profiling and police violence. But it wasn’t until I read Saru Jayaraman’s book, “Forked: A New Standard for American Dining,” that I learned the history of tipping in the United States. After the Civil War, white business owners, still eager to find ways to steal Black labor, created the idea that tips would replace wages. Tipping had originated in Europe as “noblesse oblige,” a practice among aristocrats to show favor to servants. But when the idea came to the United States, restaurant corporations mutated the idea of tips from being bonuses provided by aristocrats to their inferiors to becoming the only source of income for Black workers they did not want to pay. The Pullman Company tried to get away with it too, but the Black porters, under the leadership of A. Philip Randolph, formed the nation’s first Black union to be affiliated with the American Federation of Labor and fought and won higher wages with tips on top.

Restaurant workers, however — who were mostly women — were not so fortunate. The unjust concept of tips as wages remained in place for them. And in 1938, when Franklin Roosevelt signed the nation’s first minimum wage into law, it excluded restaurant workers, a category that included a disproportionate number of Black people.

American businesses after the Civil War sought to make tips the only source of income for Black workers they did not want to pay, like restaurant workers and railway porters.

In 1966, when our nation’s minimum wage was overhauled, restaurant workers were even more formally cut out with the creation of a subminimum wage for tipped workers. Today, 43 states and the federal government still persist with this legacy of slavery, allowing a tipped work force that is close to 70 percent female and disproportionately Black and brown women to be paid a subminimum wage. A nation that once enslaved Black people and declared them legally three-fifths of a person now pays many of their descendants less than a third of the minimum wage to which everyone else is entitled.

The essay concludes by arguing for the passage of the Raise the Wage Act in Congress:

Fortunately, the subminimum wage for tipped workers might finally come to an end if Congress enacts the minimum wage policy in President Biden’s new $1.9 trillion relief package in its entirety. The Raise the Wage Act, if passed, would not only raise the minimum wage to $15 minimum wage but also fully phase out the subminimum wage for tipped workers. This would be good news for women and people of color who’ve been denied a living wage and forced to endure harassment on the job, but it would ultimately benefit all tipped workers — and restaurants too. Workers in the seven states that have One Fair Wage receive similar or even higher tips as the workers in 43 states with a subminimum wage, and restaurants in those seven states have higher sales.

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

  • Do any of the experiences described by Ms. Alexander working as a waitress and earning tips resonate with your own? How do your experiences of tipping or being tipped shape your views on the practice?

  • Ms. Alexander argues that “the subminimum wage for tipped workers isn’t simply born of racial injustice; it continues to perpetuate both race and gender inequity today.” Do you agree? How persuasive do you find her argument that tipping is “fundamentally unjust”? After reading the essay, do you think we should end the practice of tipping? Why or why not?

  • While the essay begins with her personal experiences, Ms. Alexander presents a lot of historical and statistical evidence to support her contention that tipping is fundamentally unjust, such as that the nation’s first minimum wage signed into law in 1938 “excluded restaurant workers, a category that included a disproportionate number of Black people.” Which historical connections did you find most eye-opening, surprising, memorable or persuasive and why?

  • What do you think can be done to improve or fix the current tipping system in the United States? Should more states pass One Fair Wage — a full minimum wage with tips on top? Do you think Congress should enact the Raise the Wage Act, which would both raise the minimum wage to $15 and fully phase out the subminimum wage for tipped workers? Why or why not? What other solutions would you recommend to address what Ms. Alexander calls a “racist, sexist subminimum wage” for service workers?

About Student Opinion

• Find all of our Student Opinion questions in this column.
• Have an idea for a Student Opinion question? Tell us about it.
• Learn more about how to use our free daily writing prompts for remote learning.

Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Lesson of the Day: ‘The Other Serena’

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Lesson of the Day: ‘The Other Serena’

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.

Featured Article: “The Other Serena” by Matthew Futterman and Alana Holmberg

Have you ever watched a professional tennis tournament and noticed young people in uniform chasing down balls between points? Those people are ball kids, preteens and teenagers who are passionate about the game and who help make tournaments run smoothly by retrieving stray balls and passing them to the players.

In this lesson, you will learn about 14-year-old Serena Aponso, named after the tennis great Serena Williams, who worked as a ball kid at the Australian Open this year for a second time. Then, you will write a letter to a hero you dream of collaborating with or working alongside.

What do you think it would be like to be a ball kid? What kinds of skills do you think you would need to have?

Watch this 45-second video that gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the jobs of ball kids at the Australian Open in 2019. Then respond to the questions below.

  • What do you notice about the work that ball kids do in the video?

  • What kinds of roles and responsibilities do they have? What skills do they need to do their job well?

Now, listen to this three-minute interview with two teenagers, Cameron and Jenna, who were ball kids at the 2019 Australian Open and answer the following questions:

Read the article, then answer the following questions:

1. Do you play any sports or are you part of any extracurricular activities that require a lot of preparation and focus? Does any part of Serena Aponso’s daily schedule or responsibilities remind you of an activity that you participate in?

2. What is one thing that surprised you about the schedule or responsibilities of ball kids?

3. Choose one photograph that you found interesting. What do you notice and wonder about who is in the photograph and what they are doing?

4. Based on the article, what is one lesson you imagine Serena might learn from her experience as a ball kid?

5. If you were a ball kid, what would you most want to do or experience? Would it be the reality of being out on the court? Or getting a glimpse of a famous tennis player? Or hanging with other ball kids behind the scenes?

6. Pretend you’re the journalist: What is one question you would like to ask Serena about being a ball kid?

7. Media literacy. This story is told through a visual slide show. Why do you think the writers and editors decided to tell Serena’s story in this way? How would it be different if it were written as a traditional article? Which medium do you think would be more effective and why?

Serena Aponso gets to watch the athlete she was named after, Serena Williams, play tennis up close. Think about something that you are very passionate about. It could be a sport, or maybe it’s theater, chess, an instrument, a profession (like a medicine or journalism) or a favorite book series.

Once you’ve landed on a passion, consider this question: Who would you want to shadow or work alongside in that field? Is there someone who is very skilled or talented at something that you love? Is there someone you consider a role model or inspiration?

Now, spend some time daydreaming — you can just close your eyes and think or free write in your journal — about what it would be like to meet this person and watch them work up close.

Next, write a letter to this person telling them about why you are inspired by them and how you would hope to collaborate with them in some way. Maybe you would take on a role like a ball kid — supporting their work — or maybe it’s another kind of collaboration. What about their work is particularly powerful or inspiring to you? How could you learn from their skill set and expertise? What do you think you would gain from seeing them work up close? What do you think you could offer them?

You can share your letter with a classmate or post the first paragraph of it in the comment section.

About Lesson of the Day

• Find all our Lessons of the Day in this column.
• Teachers, watch our on-demand webinar to learn how to use this feature in your classroom.

Street Scavenging

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Street Scavenging

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.

The pandemic has spawned an enormous wave of items tossed out on New York City’s streets. A smattering of those items include everything from vintage furniture to a Korean wedding chest and even a Tiffany bracelet. People are claiming these discarded items for free.

What do you think about this flourishing freebie market? Have you or your family ever discovered treasure buried in curbside trash? What is the best, most cherished or most useful thing you’ve ever gotten for free and why is it so meaningful?

Tell us in the comments, then read the related article to learn more about how a niche activity has become a phenomenon.

About Picture Prompts

• Find all our Picture Prompts in this column.
• Have an idea for a Picture Prompt? Tell us about it.
• Teachers, discover more ways to teach with our Picture Prompts and learn how to use our free daily writing prompts for remote learning.

Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Word + Quiz: punctilious

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Word + Quiz: punctilious

: marked by precise accordance with details

_________

The word punctilious has appeared in four articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on March 17 in “How Coronavirus Has Affected Real Estate” by Joanne Kaufman:

Even a week ago, before many businesses and schools closed, a survey by the National Association of Realtors found that 25 percent of sellers nationwide had already changed the terms of engagement with prospective buyers because of the virus. New requirements include a stop at a hand-washing station, at the very least, a liberal spritz of hand sanitizer. In some instances, buyers are being asked to leave their shoes at the door and don booties. And they’re often discouraged from touching kitchen and bathroom fixtures.

Denae Montesi, a sales agent at William Raveis NYC, is punctilious about being the one to open and close the front door. She keeps as firm a grip on her iPad as she does on the doorknob, signing in prospective buyers at open houses rather than letting them do it themselves. Other brokers have chosen to go old school: they provide pens, wiping them down after each use, or simply invite attendees to keep them.

_________

Film Club: ‘The Paradise Next Door’

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Film Club: ‘The Paradise Next Door’

Note to Teachers: As with all our films, please preview to make sure the film is appropriate for your students.

“The Paradise Next Door” is an eight-minute film that profiles The Villages, a huge retirement community near Orlando, Fla. The film touches on themes of aging, community, happiness and the ever-elusive dreams of a perfect life.

What would your paradise look like — now and when you get older?

Students

1. Watch the short film above. While you watch, you might take notes using our Film Club Double-Entry Journal (PDF) to help you remember specific moments.

2. After watching, think about these questions:

  • What questions do you still have?

  • What connections can you make between this film and your own life or experience? Why? Does this film remind you of anything else you’ve read or seen? If so, how and why?

3. An additional challenge | Respond to the essential question at the top of this post: What would your paradise look like — now and when you get older?

4. Next, join the conversation by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box that opens on the right. (Students 13 and older are invited to comment, although teachers of younger students are welcome to post what their students have to say.)

5. After you have posted, try reading back to see what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting another comment. Use the “Reply” button or the @ symbol to address that student directly.

6. To learn more, read “The Paradise Next Door.” Lance Oppenheim writes:

The Villages is a world of its own. About an hour north of Orlando, Fla., the huge retirement community — which is so large that it contains its own shopping, dining and health care facilities — has lured more than 130,000 seniors with meticulously groomed grounds and a simulacrum of American yesteryear. Residents are immersed in a self-contained society defined by free time, recreation and the blissful opportunity to ignore the outside world.

But as this senior utopia continues to expand, transforming adjoining pastures and wetlands into golf courses and tract housing, it also threatens the way of life of its neighbors, who may feel they have little choice but to sell their property and move. And Villages residents themselves are confronted with the very forces they have tried to ignore. Cracks, both literal and metaphysical, have upset the foundation of the community.

Want More Film Club?

• See all the films in this series.

• Read our list of practical teaching ideas, along with responses from students and teachers, for how you can use these documentaries in the classroom.

Things That Matter Most – Free Printable Poster

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Things That Matter Most – Free Printable Poster

Things That Matter Most - Free Printable Poster

Today I wanted to share with you an updated version of one of our popular printable quotes. It was made to help us focus on Things That Matter Most. It can be so easy to lose perspective especially when our lives become busy and sometimes all it takes is a little reminder as we are rushing about our day to help shift our focus back to what is truly important.

Things That Matter Most Free Printable Poster

I like designing posters because I think they are really universal decoration. They are perfect both for the seasonal office accent and the house decoration. This poster is easy to print and available in two different sizes – A4 and A3.

Free Printable poster featuring a quote - Things That Matter Most Must Never Be at the Mercy of Thinhs that Matter Least

For Personal Use Only.

What types of decorations are your favorites? Do you like posters with quotes or would you prefer more graphics ones? I would love to know that so please let me know in the comments below!

If you are looking for more Printable Freebies, make sure to check our free printables library

Looking for something specific?

If you have an idea for a printable, let us know in the comments! We are always looking for inspiration. If you decide to print today’s Things That Matter Most poster, make sure to share photos of your decorated room with us via Instagram or Twitter.

Word + Quiz: tangible

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Word + Quiz: tangible

1. perceptible by the senses, especially the sense of touch

2. capable of being perceived; especially capable of being handled or touched or felt

3. capable of being treated as fact

4. (of especially business assets) having physical substance and intrinsic monetary value

_________

The word tangible has appeared in 370 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Feb. 9 in “A Glimpse of a Bygone Life on Scottish Islands, Plucked From the Trash” by Megan Specia:

In the bags, he found a wealth of old pictures of the Shetland Islands taken in the 1960s and ’70s — old farmers shearing sheep by hand, views of dirt roads winding between small stone houses, and fishers rowing small dinghies ashore.

… Mr. Dymond gave permission for the slides to be donated to the Shetland Museum and Archives, and Mr. Moar plans to take them there once the site reopens after coronavirus restrictions ease.

Mr. Moar said he hoped they could serve as a reminder of the simplicity of life on the islands.

“Life is slower here,” he said. “But these old photos are certainly a window into a past era where life was, people would say, more real and more tangible.”

_________

Do You Want to Travel in Space?

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Do You Want to Travel in Space?

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.

Have you ever dreamed of becoming an astronaut — or traveling to outer space? What’s so appealing about leaving Earth?

How realistic are such aspirations?

One “ordinary citizen” was recently chosen to be a passenger aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Kenneth Chang writes about Hayley Arceneaux, a 29-year-old cancer survivor who recently learned that she had been chosen to join a crewed mission to orbit the Earth, in “She Beat Cancer at 10. Now She’s Set to Be the Youngest American in Space.” Here’s an excerpt:

Ms. Arceneaux, a physician assistant at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, will be one of four people on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Florida. Scheduled to launch late this year, it is to be the first crewed mission to circle Earth in which no one on board is a professional astronaut.

“I did ask, ‘Am I going to get a passport stamp for going to space?’” Ms. Arceneaux said. “But I don’t think I’m going to. So I’m just going to draw a star and the moon in one of my passports.”

This adventure is spearheaded by Jared Isaacman, a 38-year-old billionaire who announced in January that he had bought the rocket launch from SpaceX, the space company started by Elon Musk. Mr. Isaacman said at the time that he wanted the mission to be more than a jaunt for the superwealthy, and that he had given two of the four available seats to St. Jude.

The article goes on to explain the significance of this space journey:

Ms. Arceneaux could become the youngest American ever to travel to orbit. She will also be the first person with a prosthetic body part to go to space. She was a patient at St. Jude nearly 20 years ago, and as part of her treatment for bone cancer, metal rods replaced parts of the bones in her left leg.

In the past, that would have kept her firmly on the ground, unable to meet NASA’s stringent medical standards for astronauts. But the advent of privately financed space travel has opened the final frontier to some people who were previously excluded.

Dr. Michael D. Neel, the orthopedic surgeon who installed Ms. Arceneaux’s prosthesis, says that although having artificial leg bones means that she can’t play contact sports on Earth, they should not limit her on this SpaceX trek.

“It shows us that the sky is not the limit,” Dr. Neel said. “It’s the sky and beyond. I think that’s the real point of all this, that she has very little limitations as far as what you can do. Unless you’re going to play football up there.”

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

  • Have you ever dreamed of becoming an astronaut or working for NASA? Are you fascinated by outer space or space travel? Why do you think so many of us are captivated by space and its mysteries?

  • If you had an opportunity to go anywhere in space, where would you visit? The moon? Mars? Another planet? Would you want to venture beyond our solar system? Why?

  • If you could be part of the SpaceX Falcon 9 flight, what would thrill you the most about the ride? Making history? Experiencing weightlessness? Viewing Earth from orbit? Something else?

  • In the article, Ms. Arceneaux said that she wanted to give hope to those battling serious illness: “They’ll be able to see a cancer survivor in space, especially one that has gone through the same thing that they have. It’s going to help them visualize their future.” Are you inspired by Ms. Arceneaux? Have you been through hardships that have inspired others?

  • If you don’t want to journey to outer space, where would you prefer to go instead?

1...1,1721,1731,174...1,527Page 1,173 of 1,527

Recent Posts