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Year 11
AQA

The Space Race

I can analyse the events of the Space Race.

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New
New
Year 11
AQA

The Space Race

I can analyse the events of the Space Race.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The Space Race was a competition between the US and USSR in the 1950s and 1960s.
  2. Security and prestige both motivated the Space Race.
  3. The USSR launched the first satellite, Sputnik, in 1957.
  4. Soviet successes in space triggered fears that the US was falling behind.
  5. US astronauts landed on the moon in 1969.

Common misconception

The USA was in the lead throughout the Space Race.

The USSR beat the USA to launch the first satellite into orbit and to put both the first man and first woman in space.

Keywords

  • Satellite - in this context, an object that moves around a planet in space

  • Orbit - the circular journey that a spacecraft or planet makes around the sun, the moon, or another planet

  • Prestige - respect and admiration people feel for someone else, often because they are successful

  • ICBM - short for inter-continental ballistic missile; a missile that can deliver bombs to hit targets over 5500 km away

Ask students at the end of the lesson who 'won' the Space Race. Get students to define specific criteria (i.e. is it based on biggest individual achievement, consistency of achievements, etc?).
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Write the missing word. is an action or system intended to prevent or discourage someone from doing something.
Correct Answer: deterrence
Q2.
Who was the first country to develop nuclear weapons?
Britain
China
France
Correct answer: USA
USSR
Q3.
How many times more powerful were hydrogen bombs (H-bombs) compared to atom bombs (A-bombs)?
10
100
Correct answer: 1000
Q4.
What was the name of the theory which suggested that nuclear weapons made war between the superpowers unlikely?
BAD
Correct answer: MAD
SAD
Q5.
Write the missing word. In the late 1950s, some US officials became worried that a gap existed between the USA and USSR.
Correct Answer: missile
Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.
1 - Atomic bombs first developed
2 - Hydrogen bombs first developed
3 - ICBMs first developed
4 - SLBMs first developed

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is an object that moves around a planet in space called?
Correct Answer: satellite, a satellite
Q2.
What was the name of the first woman in space?
Correct Answer: Valentina Tereshkova
Q3.
Which country sent the first man into space?
Britain
China
France
USA
Correct answer: USSR
Q4.
Which event is usually considered the end of the Space Race?
the launch of the first satellite into Earth's orbit
the first manned spaceflight
Correct answer: the first moon landing
the first manned flight to Mars
Q5.
Who said the following in 1961: "the dramatic achievements in space have an impact on the minds of men everywhere, who are attempting to make a determination of which road they should take"?
Correct answer: John F Kennedy
Neil Armstrong
Nikita Khrushchev
Yuri Gagarin
Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.
1 - Sputnik 1 launched
2 - US fears about a missile gap grew.
3 - Discovery XIV launched
4 - Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space.
5 - JFK announced plans for the US to land men on the Moon.
6 - Apollo 11 successfully reached the Moon.

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