TechnoMission

To begin, students study the Space Exploration database provided with this project. By filtering records, students are able to read about the space program from its early beginnings in the 1960's to today while building an understanding of databases.

Space Exploration Database

Next, students become astronauts. Using Microsoft Paint, students edit a photograph to place a photograph of their head into a spacesuit template. Upon completion, students join the prestigious team at TechnoNASA. The edited photograph, as well as other personal information, is entered into the Space Exploration database to learn data entry techniques.

View Sample Spacesuit Activity

Students blast into cyberspace on the spacecraft Internet Explorer. Their mission is to collect items from the World Wide Web and store the information in a Microsoft Access database.

To prepare for this mission, students complete a planning sheet provided with the project. They are guided in choosing a topic and determining the fields of information.

An organizer is used to record information as students gather their data from the Internet.

View Organizer

The database can be on any topic. The teacher may wish to choose a curriculum theme or allow the students to brainstorm their own ideas:

• Planets - classify planets by type (gas giant, terrestrial)
• Food - classify food by group (meat, dairy, bread)
• Family - classify people by role (parent, sibling, cousin)
• Animals - classify by class (reptile, mammal, bird, insect)
• Artwork - classify by style (impressionism, realism)
• Books - classify by genre (science fiction, horror, mystery)