Projects Page

Earthrise

On December 24th, 1968 just a few minutes before 10.30 AM Houston time, astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders were circling the moon in Apollo 8 when suddenly they became the first humans ever to witness the Earth rising above the moon's craggy surface. In a rush of excitement they loaded a camera with film and took the amazing photograph named “Earthrise.”

In 2018 the Inaugural Youth Poet Laureate of the United States Amanda Gorman responded with her Earthrise poem. Hear Ms. Gorman recite her poem in this youtube video

Kindergarten - 2nd Grade (4-6 yrs.)
(1) Show your class Earthrise and tell them the exciting story of how it was taken
(2) Class discussion: How do you feel when you look at Earthrise? Chose a word or a sentence for that feeling and write it down.
(3) Ask each student to share their words or sentences with the class.
(4) Share the video of Amanda Gorman reciting her Earthrise. Explain that she is the Inaugural Youth Poet Laureate of the United States and when she saw the Earthrise photograph she wrote this poem about what it meant to her.
(5) Ask your students top draw or paint a picture of what you think the experience of seeing an Earthrise would be like and put their word or sentence somewhere in the picture!
(6) No need to sign artwork but if artist really wants to then initials only please!
(7) IMPORTANT. Ask them to have an adult help them post their artwork to your Sky Gallery. Share this page of examples to help your students and adults understand that the photo must cropped (if necessary) so that there is NO wall, table or anything shown around the picture - just the art.

HOME EXTENSION:
The family outreach part of our programs is very important. It offers unique opportunities for Intergenerational Learning. Consider sending a message to parents and guardians that their child will be coming home with this important assignment. Then ask your students to share the Earthrise photo and their own work in response to it. Suggest they ask their adult “How would seeing this make YOU feel?” They should be prepared to share what they learned at home next class.

Additional Resources: Google Slide Presentation.

Grades 3-5 (7-11yrs)

(1) Show your class the photograph Earthrise and tell them the exciting story of how it was taken.
(2) Ask them to write down their answers to the following three questions: (i)How does this photograph make you feel? (ii) What do you notice? (iii) What do you wonder?
(3) Then share Amanda Gorman’s video with the class. Explain that she is the Inaugural Youth Poet Laureate of the United States and when she saw the Earthrise photograph she responded to it in the form of a poem.
(4) Then ask your students to create their own poem or Sky-ku (What’s a Sky-ku?) in response to Earthrise. This can be written by hand on paper, decorated and photographed OR overlaid as a text onto their own sky photograph or sky artwork. Just remember the SkyDay Fridays Golden Rule - Keep it All About the Sky! No trees, buildings, smoke stacks - you get the idea! If it is connected to the ground, leave it out! Share this page of examples to help students prepare their work for posting with the posting. No need to sign artwork but if artist really wants to then initials only please! Their photo must cropped (as necessary) so that there is NO wall, table or anything shown around the picture - just the art.

IMPORTANT Home Extension:
The civic outreach part of our program is very important. It offers unique opportunities for Family and Intergenerational Learning. Consider sending a message to parents and guardians that their child will be coming home with this important assignment. Then ask your students to share the NASA photo and their poem/image with their parents and ask how it makes them feel. They should report back to class.

Additional Resources: (i) Google Slide Presentation

Grades 6-8 (11-14 yrs)

(1) Show your class the photograph Earthrise. Tell them the story of how it was taken.
(2) Questions: How does this photograph make you feel? What do you notice? What do you wonder? Write your answers down. (Printable pdf)
(3) Then share Amanda Gorman’s video. Explain that she is now the Inaugural Youth Poet Laureate of the United States and when she saw the photograph Earthrise she responded to it in the form of a poem.
(4) Provide each student with a copy of the text of Ms. Gorman’s poem and ask them to circle or write down words, phrases or sentences that resonate for them. Why are these ideas important?
(5) Then ask the class to respond to the Earthrise photograph with a poem or Sky-ku of their own (What’s a Sky-ku?). Ask them to overlay their text onto a sky photograph or sky artwork. Just remember the SkyDay Fridays Golden Rule - Keep it All About the Sky! No trees, buildings, smoke stacks - you get the idea! If it is connected to the ground, leave it out! Then post the work to your Sky Gallery.
(6) No need to sign artwork but if artist wants to initial it that’s fine!
NOTE: Students will need to make sure their files are converted to JPEG files (as necessary) for posting. Sky Galleries only accept JPEG files. Converting any image file to a JPEG is easy! Simply make a duplicate of your original file and save that file as a JPEG prior to posting.

IMPORTANT Home Extension:
The civic outreach part of our program is very important and offers unique opportunities for Family Intergenerational Learning. Consider sending a message to parents and guardians that their child will be coming home with this important assignment. Then ask your students to show an adult at home Amanda Gorman’s Earthrise and the NASA photo that inspired her. Then ask their adult how it makes them feel and report back to class.

Additional Resources: (i) Text of Amanda Gorman’s Earthrise (ii) Google Slide Presentation

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