Teacher's Guide for ODYSSEY^TM Countdown to the Millennium

Exploring the Issue: Countdown to the Millennium

Format:
Article/Page
Summary
Skills

"Calendar Confusion," pg. 6

• Our modern calendar evolved through centuries of tinkering with the Roman calendar of 2,700 years ago. It's still only one among many, including the religious calendars of Israel, Islam, and China. By the way, is January 1, 2000, the first day of a new millennium? Check pg. 9 for the answer.
• Mathematics, Science and Society

"Exterminating the Millennium Bug," pg. 10

• How and why is the Y2K bug still "bugging" us? Different computer languages and locations make its extermination a daunting task. A sidebar explains why Y1K prompted panic, too.
• Problem-solving, Inductive Reasoning

"The Tech Century", pg. 14

• Follow a time line of the 20th Century's most important technological achievements, along with kids' opinions of significant discoveries and inventions. Contact ODYSSEY^TM if your favorite innovation was overlooked.
• Inductive Reasoning, Chronological Organization

"Envision the Future With ExploraVision," pg. 18

• The Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Awards Program is one of the world's largest science competitions for kids. Teams use science, writing, art, computer skills, and critical thinking to envision a future technology.
• Invention, Application

"Special Section - Millennium Moments," pgs. 20 - 27

• ODYSSEY^TM talks with William K. Hartmann, space scientist; Steven Jay Gould, paleontologist; and Michio Kaku, physicist. Each reflects on past scientific achievements and offers predictions for the future.
• Deductive Thinking, Extrapolation

"This Magic Moment," pg.28

• State-of-the-art fireworks displays combine chemistry, physics, engineering, electronics, and computer technology. Learn how fireworks are made, wired, and launched - and how they will help celebrate the New Year 2000.
• Technological Processes, Cause and Effect

"Red Planet Revisited," pg. 34

• After more than a century of research and speculation, the question of life on Mars remains unanswered. An interview with astronomer and SETI researcher Seth Shostak accompanies the article.
• Interpretation of Evidence, Drawing Inferences

"One Man's Junk," pg. 38

• A fictional tale of a time-traveler from the 21st century. Is today's piece of junk tomorrow's antique?
• Prediction, Application

"What's Up (Planet Watch and Backyard Observations)," pg. 40

• The December sky offers two meteor showers (the Geminids on the 14th and the Ursids on the 22nd), the largest full Moon of the year (the 22nd), and the arrival of winter (also the 22nd). Six planets are also visible.
• Observation, Following Directions

"Fantastic Journeys," pg. 46

• Read the diary of a participant in the first Girl Scout Leadership Institute in Science and Technology. The goal of the 5-day program was to generate excitement about science careers.
• Deductive Reasoning, Applications

1. Ask the class to make two lists. Include in the first students' opinions of the most extraordinary accomplishments of the 20th century. For the second, speculate on the most likely achievements of the 21st. Encourage realistic and reasonable predictions, but don't limit imagination.
2. What field of science do you think will command most attention in the next century? Why?

Pg. 6 - "Calendar Confusion"

• Talk It Over:
  1. What adjustments have created the Gregorian calendar we use today? How do we adjust our calendar to keep it accurate?
  2. Describe the calendars of various cultures and religions. Discuss how they are used. How do they compare to the Gregorian calendar?
• Connections:
  1. Mathematics: If we used a calendar with 12 months of 30 days each with no leap years, and the winter solstice fell on December 22 of the first year, how many years would pass before the winter solstice fell on that same date again? (A simple approach to the answer: 360 '· 5 = 72. Perhaps students have a better idea.)
  2. Creative Arts: Using rectangles to represent days and months, lay out the International Fixed Calendar described on pg. 9. Make your calendar both attractive and useful.
  3. History/World Culture: Create a poster that relates the history of calendars to the (sometimes disputed!) dates of historical events or religious holidays.
• Student Assessment:
  1. Write a brief essay explaining the need for leap years and leap centuries. Make sure to include the movements of the Earth and the Moon in your account.
  2. Write and deliver a speech to persuade merrymakers to postpone the millennium celebration until 2001. You'll need several reasons, as revelers may resist waiting for the party.

pg. 34 - "Red Planet Revisited"

• Talk It Over:
  1. Review the evidence for life on Mars as it existed in 1895 and 1996. In your opinion, why are we so fascinated with the question of life on Mars?
  2. What research on Mars is expected to settle the question of past or present life there? Do you think it will?
• Connections:
  1. Mechanical Drawing: Design a robot to search Mars for evidence of life. What tasks must it accomplish? What tools or devices should it employ?
  2. Creative Writing: Write a passage in the diary of the first human to land on and explore Mars. Include what you see, do, and feel during your first day on the Red Planet.
  3. Mathematics: On September 23, 1999, NASA lost the Mars Climate Orbiter just as it was starting to circle the planet. It probably burned or broke up in the Martian atmosphere. The cause was a failure to convert navigational data from the English units used by one group of technicians to the metric units used by another. Make a poster showing equivalencies between some frequently used metric and English units of measurement. Show how to convert them. Write an accompanying essay on why scientists typically use metric - and only metric! - units.
• Student Assessment:
  1. In a two-part essay, describe current efforts to find evidence of life on Mars. In the first part, describe the evidence currently available. In the second part, explain why this evidence isn't enough to support a conclusion.
  2. Should taxpayers' money support exploration of Mars? Write a letter to Congress supporting or opposing federal appropriations.

"Millions have sold off their stocks and hocked their Pentiums"

Small-Group, Class Project: Working with a partner, search almanacs, astronomy magazines, and Web sites to find dates for astronomical events in the coming year. Prepare and illustrate a calendar of the events, and publish "The Skywatchers' Guide to the Year 2000." Send your calendar to ODYSSEY^TM and place it in school and community libraries.

"Just to go on a cruise for the start of the millennium."

Community Connection: Interview people who work in a variety of different fields. Ask how they think their jobs will change in the next ten years. Collate responses and create a bulletin board titled "Work in the 21st Century."

"Watch their faces as you explain to them how . . . "

Large-Group, Collaborative Project: Break the class into four groups, focusing on medicine, technology, space exploration, and transportation. Challenge each group to create a time line of major events of the 20th century. (Teams may need to narrow the field by developing criteria for inclusion or exclusion of a discovery or invention.) When complete, join the four time lines into one.

"The millennium begins a year from now!"

Large-Group Competition: In 1993, Congress ceased funding for SETI. Today, individual contributions and corporate sponsors fund it. Form two teams, one favoring renewed federal funding and the other opposing. Research both sides and conduct a debate.

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Updated: 9/2/10 10:18 am
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