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Men on the Moon - Apollo 11 and the Space Race

Mini Unit Study

“That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”

These were the famous words spoken by Astronaut Neil Armstrong of the Apollo 11 mission, 35 years ago today as he walked on the Moon on July 20, 1969. The Apollo 11 mission was the fifth of the manned Apollo missions and the very first in which human beings landed on the Moon. This is what the Apollo program had been working so hard towards - fulfilling the vision that had been presented by U.S. President John F. Kennedy in the spring of 1961. He had told Congress, "...I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish..."

The race to the Moon had actually begun in the fall of 1957 with the launch of the first satellite into space, Sputnik 1, by the Soviet Union. The Soviets then followed up by the first launch of a dog in space (Laika – who died on her ‘mission’), the first unmanned Moon landing of the Luna 2 in 1959, and the first human in space (Yuri Gagarin) in 1961. The U.S. had been stunned by the launch of Sputnik and and became determined to prevent the Soviets from gaining a permanent upper hand in technological achievement in space. Leaders worried that Soviet dominance in space would both undermine public confidence in the United States and potentially lead to Soviet military superiority in this Cold War era.

In 1958, President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act that would create the agency known as NASA. In just eleven short years after NASA’s creation, the United States dedicated enormous resources to space exploration, beginning with the Mercury program and culminating with the Apollo 11 mission that ended with a man on the Moon, captured the imagination of the world, and allowed the United States to recapture the mantle of technological superiority by “winning” the space race.

In this mini-unit study, you can: read about the history of the space race and the Apollo program, hear the Apollo astronauts talk about their experiences, see videos of the Apollo 11 mission, look at a timeline of the space race, listen to a speech given by President Kennedy on the goal of sending a man in the Moon by the end of the 60’s, read a newspaper headline of the famous moonwalk, conduct an interview of someone who watched the moon landing for an assignment, and build your own moon rocket.

Reading

A brief, pictorial overview of the space race

The space race

A brief, pictorial overview of the Apollo program

Apollo program

An in-depth official NASA overview of the Apollo program (teens and adults)

NASA Apollo overview

Look at a timeline of key events in the space race

Space race timeline

Primary Sources

Listen to President Kennedy's speech on the goal of sending a man to the the Moon:

Kennedy speech

Read a newspaper headline and story of the Apollo 11 Moon landing:

Headline story

Multimedia

Listen to astronauts talk about their experience in space:

Astronauts

See videos of the Apollo 11 mission:

Apollo 11 videos

Assignments and Projects

Assignment Apollo - this multi-task assignment will ask students to:

• Examine how astronauts and historians remembered and reflected upon the Apollo 11 mission on its thirtieth anniversary by reading and discussing an article.
• Develop a list of questions to use as a guide to an interview with an adult who recalls the Apollo 11 mission.
• Interview an adult about his or her memories of the specific events and impact of the Apollo 11 lunar landing; imagine that they are writing newspaper articles about Apollo 11 on July 21, 1969, with the goal of capturing a citizen's thoughts about the previous day's lunar landing, and incorporate their interviews into their articles.
  
  
  Assignment Apollo
  

For hands-on fun, create your own space rocket powered by a lot of "fizz"

Space rocket

Recommended Resource

Apollo 11: The NASA Mission Reports, Volume 3

This book and DVD set has something for the entire family. Parents and teens, particularly those with a interest in astronomy and space travel, will find the details of this official Apollo report fascinating.

But the entire family will be wowed with the DVD that comes with it, because it includes hours of footage of the first ever moonwalk and lunar orbit. If you weren't alive yet, or old enough to remember the televised event in 1969, this is your chance to feel the historic moment in time and share it with others.

Book (Paperback)
Authors: Robert Godwin, United States National Aeronautics and
Space Administration

Amazon Price: $19.56


Read more about the book on Amazon