Curated OER
The Space Race in the '50's
Students explore the impact of the space race. In this 1950's America lesson plan, students examine newspapers from the time period as well as Apollo mission episodes. Students then create journals from the perspectives of Apollo...
New York State Education Department
US History and Government Examination: January 2013
While the 1950s seemed to be a time of peace and prosperity, Sputnik, the Korean War, and the Montgomery bus boycott were symptoms of the turmoil that loomed under the surface. Using documents, class members investigate what these events...
Curated OER
Space Exploration
Students explore the significance of the four space programs: Sputnik, Apollo, Viking, and Voyager. In this space exploration activity, students view a space exploration slideshow and complete an included chart of space exploration.
Curated OER
Internet Activity: More Space About Space
Students analyze the exploration of space. In this space lesson, students discuss the space race of the 1950s and 1960s. Students identify important events in space exploration and analyze the reasons for a space station.
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: Space Race
This set focuses on the Space Race during the mid-1950s and 1960s and examines the impact of the Space Race today. Includes a teacher's guide.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: The Start of the Space Race
Looks at the USSR's launch of Sputnik and the galvanizing effect it had on America's motivation to fund aerospace research. NASA was soon formed and more funding was put in place for public education in the sciences and math.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Teaching Math & Science in Age of Sputnik
Why did the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik throw the fields of mathematics and science into tremendous demand in the United States? Find the many ways this revolutionary event impacted children from the 1950s to become the...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "The Women of Hidden Figures" by Jessica Mc Birney
A learning module that begins with "The Women of Hidden Figures" by Jessica McBirney, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through...