Lesson video

Hi there.

Thank you so much for joining me for today's reading lesson.

My name is Mr. Charlesworth.

In today's lesson, we're going to be using the text "Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover".

You're going to need a copy of the book.

It needs to look exactly like mine.

Pause the video now whilst you make sure you've got a copy to hand.

Well done.

Now you've got your copy, we are ready to get started.

I'm really looking forward to sharing this text with you.

I hope you're feeling curious.

The lesson outcome for today is: I can understand the context of "Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover".

The key words are, my turn, your turn.

Non-fiction.

Context.

NASA.

Mars.

Afterword.

Let's try those once more.

Non-fiction.

Context.

NASA.

Mars.

And afterword.

Well done.

Let's now have a look at the definitions.

Non-fiction is a genre of text which presents real events, information, or knowledge.

The context is the surrounding details that help you understand what you are reading.

NASA is an acronym.

It stands for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

It oversees the Mars rover missions, advancing space exploration, and scientific research.

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in our solar system.

It's often referred to as the Red Planet due to its appearance.

And finally, an afterword is a concluding section providing additional insights or reflections after the main content of the text.

Don't worry if you are unsure about any of these words.

We'll be exploring them throughout the lesson.

In today's lesson, we're going to be developing our understanding of the context, that's the surrounding information, about the text "Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover".

We're going to begin by exploring the context, before then having a look through the first few pages of the text and having a think about the word curiosity and maybe becoming curious ourselves.

Let's begin by exploring the context.

"Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover" is written and illustrated by Markus Motum.

Stuart Atkinson, who's an astronomy expert, was consulted on the text.

The text is a narrative non-fiction.

It's told from the perspective of NASA's Mars rover, which is called Curiosity.

It tells the story of the rover's mission to travel 350 million miles to explore the Red Planet.

That's a very large number and a very long distance away, don't you think? The text is presented in picture book form.

The front cover of the picture book can provide the reader with clues as to what might occur or happen in the text.

I wonder what can you notice from just the front cover? Make sure you've got a copy of the text with you and your partner.

Have a think about all the things that you can see and notice.

Pause the video now whilst you discuss with your partner.

Well done.

There are lots of things you can notice from the front cover and a few things that we can infer too.

You might have spotted a robotic device with wheels.

It has cables that connect its sensors.

It's quite an unusual shape too.

In the background, there are mountains or peaks.

They look quite big in comparison to the size of the robot.

I wonder if Mars has mountains.

You might have also noticed that the atmosphere is red closest to the planet.

This gets lighter until it fades into the night sky.

Finally, the robot is looking towards me, the reader.

I wonder if it's able to communicate with us.

Here's our first check for understanding.

True or false? "Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover" is a narrative non-fiction text.

Is that true or false? Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Well remembered, it's true.

Now I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it because A, the text is based on facts and a true life event, but it's told as a story, or B, the text is told from the perspective of a Mars rover.

Its name is Curiosity.

Which justification best fits with the original statement? Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Well done, it's A.

I hope you remembered that a narrative non-fiction text blends a story with non-fiction elements.

We're now going to explore a little bit more about Mars and the rover itself.

Exploring the context of Mars and the rover mission helps us to understand the text better.

Here are some facts about the planet.

I found these really amazing and interesting.

I hope you do too.

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in our solar system.

It has polar ice caps and seasonal changes like Earth.

Mars is home to the solar system's tallest volcano, which is called Olympus Mons.

Let's say that together.

My turn, your turn.

Olympus Mons.

I wonder if we'll find out what that means.

Olympus Mons is about two and a half times Mount Everest's height above sea level and as wide as France.

That's really tricky to imagine, but you get an understanding of how big it is.

Mars is also home to the largest canyon, which is called Valles Marineris.

Let's say that together.

Valles Marineris.

Well done.

The canyon is 2,500 miles long and 125 miles wide.

If that was on Earth, the canyon would stretch across the United States from Los Angeles to New York, which is on the Atlantic coast.

Let's now have a look at the Mars rover.

The Curiosity rover launched on the 26th of November, 2011 and landed on Mars on the 5th of August, 2012.

It set out to study Martian climate, geology, that's the study of rocks and the composition of the planet, so what it's made up out of, and it was also searching for the potential for life.

Curiosity has made significant discoveries, including evidence of ancient water, organic molecules, and seasonal methane changes.

Methane is a type of gas.

It's linked to the atmosphere of the planet.

The Curiosity rover has a variety of sensors.

Those are items on it that's able to sense something.

For example, the atmosphere and the temperature.

It allows it to conduct a wide range of scientific experiments and investigations on the Martian surface and transmit these results back to Earth.

On the right hand side is an artist's concept image of what it might look like on the planet.

Thankfully, we're able to see some real life examples later on.

In our next check for understanding, I'd like you to match the information that we have about Mars.

On the left hand side, you've got Olympus Mons, Mars, Valles Marineris, and Curiosity.

And on the right hand side you've got their descriptions.

Can you match them up successfully? Pause the video now whilst you do so.

Fantastic work.

Well remembered.

Olympus Mons was the tallest volcano in the solar system.

I know Mars is the planet.

It's fourth from the sun.

So Mars must link up with the top description.

Valles Marineris was the canyon, so that's the largest canyon in our solar system.

That means Curiosity is the name of one of the rovers sent to Mars.

We'll find out a little bit more about the history of the rover programme soon.

Did you know that Olympus Mons is Latin for Mount Olympus? Do you know why it might be called this? Mount Olympus links to Greek myths.

Perhaps the volcano on Mars reminded them of something that they've read before.

Before we begin reading the text, we're going to read the afterword.

This can be found on pages 47 and 48 at the back of the book.

This section presents the reader with factual information.

Before reading, here are some of the new or unfamiliar words that you might encounter.

There's transmission.

Let's say it.

My turn, your turn.

Transmission.

That's data sent between the Mars rover and NASA's mission control on Earth.

The next word is fly-by.

That means passing close to Mars without entering its orbit.

Finally, we have orbiter.

Well noticed.

The orbiter is a spacecraft circling Mars, relaying data between the rover and Earth.

The image on the right is an artist's impression of a fly-by happening on Mars.

I'd now like you to read the afterword on pages 47 and 48.

This might be done independently, with a partner, or with an adult supporting you.

Pause the video now whilst you read.

I hope you enjoyed finding out lots of new facts and figures.

I'd like you to now share an interesting fact that you've discovered with your partner.

Pause the video now whilst you do so.

Well done.

Let's see what Laura thinks.

She says that, "I was surprised to find out that the first fly-by occurred in 1964 to 1965, five years before the moon landings in 1969." That's a really surprising fact.

I hadn't realised that we'd been able to discover about Mars before landing on the moon.

Andeep was amazed by how far the rover Opportunity was able to travel.

A marathon is over 26 miles.

Andeep has mentioned one of the other rover programmes, Opportunity, and the distance it was able to travel on the Martian surface.

I'm so intrigued to find out more.

I hope you are too.

Looking closely at the timeline of missions to Mars, I'd like you now to sequence the following into a chronological order.

That's the order that they happened.

You'll need to read through each of the statements and decide which comes first, which comes last, and which two must go in the middle.

Number them one, two, three, and four.

You might like to refer to the afterword for support.

Pause the video now whilst you order them.

Great work.

I wonder if you're correct.

I know the last one in the text at least is that Curiosity lands on Mars.

Therefore the first must be the furthest along to the left hand side of the page.

That's Mariner 9 orbiting Mars.

The next two were quite tricky.

We've either got Viking 2 mission lands on Mars, or contact was lost with the Beagle 2 lander.

I know that the Viking 2 was launched before the Beagle 2, so Viking 2 mission lands on Mars must come second.

Contact was lost with Beagle 2 lander is third, and then last is Curiosity rover lands on Mars.

This is one of the final points in the text.

However, explorations continued.

I wonder if you're already curious to find out more.

In our first task, I'd like you to think about what we've read and talked about so far.

What predictions can you make about the text's content? That's what we think might be inside as we start reading.

A prediction can be based on what you've looked at and discussed so far.

You can also link to the words, the illustrations, or your own personal experience.

Perhaps you're already fascinated about space and are able to share something new with your partner.

You can use the sentence stem I predict because.

Pause the video now whilst you complete the task with your partner.

Well done.

Let's have a look at two possible predictions.

The first is from Jun.

Jun says that, "I predict that the text will tell me about how the Curiosity rover was built and how each part will help it achieve its mission objectives." Alex says, "I predict that the text will explore how the Curiosity rover travelled to Mars because lots of the glossary terms link to travel and landing." That's really well noticed by Alex.

Did you read the glossary too? It might help us with understanding of new or unfamiliar words.

If your prediction can be justified by using the text, illustrations, or your own personal experience, then it's a good prediction.

Well done.

We're now going to move onto the second part of the lesson, which is titled piquing our curiosity.

That means we're thinking about how we can become curious from what we read in the text.

Now that we've understood a little more about the context of the text, we can explore the first few pages.

I'd like you now to read from page 1 to page 10.

That's up to the double page spread ending with the word in.

Check through your first page is the page after the title page and page 10 is the one that ends with the word in.

Perhaps turn to page 10 now to make sure that you don't go past it.

Once you've done so, pause the video and read with your partner.

Well done for your reading.

I wonder, why do you think Mars was chosen as the planet most likely to have signs of life? You might like to refer to pages 5 and 6 to support you.

Discuss the question with your partner now.

Pause the video whilst you do so.

That was really interesting.

Izzy says that, "The text mentions that Mars previously had a similar climate and environment to Earth.

From photographic evidence, scientists believe that there's evidence of water.

Compared to the other planets, this makes it a good option." So that's possibly what the fly-bys were doing before they sent the rovers to Mars.

I wonder if your answer is similar to Izzy's.

And now I'd like you to refer to pages 7 and 8.

What's the journey distance from Earth to Mars? And what do you think are the problems in getting humans to the planet? Pause the video now whilst you answer the question with your partner.

Were you able to remember the very large number at the beginning of the lesson? It's mentioned in the text here.

Lucas says that, "A trip to Mars is over 350 million miles.

That would take at least six months to travel.

Also, there's currently no way to relaunch or allow the rocket to return." So when we're sending the rovers to Mars, we're not able to get them back, so that might be a problem when we're thinking about using humans.

Science is always adapting and evolving.

I wonder if in our lifetimes we'll be able to experience humans on Mars.

It's quite a thought.

And now I'd like you to refer to pages 9 and 10.

The I in the narration is the rover Curiosity.

We are reading from its perspective, its point of view.

What does it mention in the text that makes it particularly well suited for the mission to Mars? Perhaps it's got something to do with the requirements.

Pause the video now whilst you answer the question.

Well noticed.

Aisha says that, "It says that the rover does not need any oxygen or sustenance." That's water and food.

"It can also cope better in the inhospitable climate." That's why we're sending robots rather than humans.

Here's our final check for understanding.

From whose perspective, that's the point of view, does the reader experience the text from? Is it A, a NASA employee; B, the planet Mars; or C, the Curiosity rover? Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Well remembered.

It's the Curiosity rover.

The I that we are reading from is from its perspective.

By reading from the perspective of the Curiosity rover, readers are able to gain a better understanding of what it's like on Mars.

Using the first person perspective makes the text different to a reference text, which is usually written in the third person.

I find it more engaging too, don't you? This task is made up of two parts.

The first is about the Curiosity's name.

Curiosity was named by a 12-year-old called Clara Ma.

Curiosity is a noun.

It means a strong desire to know, explore, and learn about the world around you.

The Mars rover mission that Curiosity was sent on is known as the Mars Science Laboratory.

That's another acronym, MSL.

I wonder if you can answer the following question.

Why do you think the name of the rover fits with the mission objectives? You might want to refer to the afterword on pages 47 and 48 to review the objectives for this part of the task.

You can use the sentence stem I think the word curiosity links to the rover because.

Pause the video now whilst you answer the question with your partner.

Well done.

I hope you had some great discussion.

Jacob says, "I think the word curiosity links to the rover because human curiosity makes us want to explore and discover.

The Curiosity rover is planning to do just that on the surface of Mars." And Sam says, "The rover will be hoping to conduct lots of experiments and analyse the climate and geology.

Curiosity usually leads to new discoveries and the rover hopes to do the same." I wonder if your thoughts were similar or different.

Now it's time for you to be curious yourselves.

Referring to what you've read and discussed so far, what do you want to find out? What questions would you like to find out the answers to? Write down three questions with your partner.

You can use the sentence stems why, how, what, can, where, and are there? Here's an example question before you write your own.

Why is it not yet possible for humans to survive on Mars? Have a think about what questions you would like to find out the answers to.

Pause the video now whilst you complete the task with your partner.

Here are some questions that you might have asked.

How does the Curiosity rover collect data on Mars? How did NASA design and build the Curiosity rover? What instruments does the Curiosity rover use to analyse Martian soil? Can the Curiosity rover communicate directly with Earth? Where is the Curiosity rover currently located on Mars? And are there any risks or challenges the Curiosity rover faces on Mars? I wonder if we'll be able to discover any of the answers to these questions as we continue to explore the text.

I hope so.

In this lesson, we've been understanding the context of "Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover".

We've learned that the text is a non-fiction information book told from the perspective of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity.

We've learned that exploring the context of Mars and the rover mission helps us to understand the text better.

The text tells the story of the rover's mission to travel 350 million miles to explore the Red Planet.

We've understood that the afterword provides the reader with valuable information and context.

And by looking at the afterword, we've learned that the rover set out to study Martian climate, geology, and the potential for life.

Finally, the name Curiosity has many links with the mission and with readers ourselves.

I'm really looking forward to continuing to be curious with you.

Well done for all your hard work.