English Teacher Angel Peng
“We rise together, back to the Moon, and beyond!” This slogan was narrated when Artemis 1 blasted off to infinity and beyond in November, 2022.
All these years, we have been taught and learned that Neil Armstrong was the first human who landed on the Moon. His landing marked the start of the Apollo generation. 50 years after Neil Armstrong’s first step on the Moon, our grade 4 students have become a new generation, the Artemis generation.
Our fourth graders were all eager to find out how and what is going to happen next in the Artemis era after they read the text-“Reaching for the Moon” by Buzz Aldrin. Buzz Aldrin was also THE MAN who accompanied Neil Armstrong and witnessed the most breathtaking moment in human history with his own eyes. In our reading text, students explored how difficult it was to be an astronaut back then, and determination, strength, and independence were the keys to help Buzz succeed and pass numerous hard tasks and obstacles in all his astronaut training and in life. Later, these qualities also helped Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and himself back to the Earth safely.
After reading “Reaching for the Moon”, students learned that the Artemis Program was just the first step towards the exploration of the whole universe. After landing on the Moon, humans are aiming for a bigger and broader future—Landing on Mars. Therefore, our students were all wondering, except for Mars, are other known planets possible for humans to land on? Of course, there are! Our teachers guided students to explore the possibilities to land on Mercury, Venus, and Mars due to the reasons that these three planets have more similarities to the Earth.
Next, students were doing research about Mercury, Venus, and Mars and figured out what it takes to land and stay on these planets according to the planet’s features. Then, students were thinking about what sorts of qualities do astronauts need to be able to work on these planets, such as, is it possible for astronauts to do moonwalk on Mercury? How fit do astronauts need to be to walk against the gravity on Venus? Finally, our grade 4 students came up with a series of requirements they think astronauts need to explore Mercury, Venus, and Mars according to the planet’s features.
In the end, our grade 4 students wrote a persuasive text to encourage all students to take chances and join this wonderful and adventurous exploration of space, the Artemis Program, and witness what humans, both men and women, are capable of. We are the Artemis generation on this beautiful planet Earth, and we are ready to go infinitely and beyond!