STAR TREK LIVE! - Ontario Science Centre

Teachers Resource Manual
Experiment: Your Body in Space
6 Instructions for learning centers: Have group
members take a learning center card and read
the “did you know” fact, discuss the
“discussion question,” perform the “try it out”
experiment, and then read the “discuss
findings” questions. Groups may elect a
member to take notes on the learning center
card. Advise that class will reconvene to
discuss their findings after all groups visit the
four learning centers.
7 Assign each group to a learning center to begin
the activities. Circulate to ensure that the
groups are on-task and to answer any
questions. Have the groups rotate after
approximately 8 minutes.
8 After the groups have explored each
learning center, reconvene the class to discuss
their findings (see explanation section for
more details).
spreading among group members. You can wash
your hands before and after visiting the restroom,
and cover your mouth and nose with a tissue
when you cough or sneeze to keep germs from
spreading.
Muscles: Gravity on Earth pulls against us when
we walk, run, and play. This makes our muscles
work hard and keeps them strong. However,
astronauts in space are affected by Earth’s gravity,
so their muscles can weaken and waste away. This
is why it is especially important for astronauts in
space to exercise at least two hours daily.
Astronauts in space do stretching and running
exercises while strapped to a treadmill machine.
Even if they workout in space, astronauts still
experience muscle and bone loss and have to build
them back when they return to Earth.
Explanation
Balance: Your brain uses information from the
eyes, special parts of the inner ear, and sensors in
the joints and skin to help you stay oriented and
balanced. These touch and balance systems in
space, unable to feel gravity’s effects, become
temporarily confused. Astronauts often feel dizzy
and even experience motion sickness at the beginning
of the space mission until they adjust to their
new environment.
Bones: Astronauts’ bones in space become weak
and porous, like the chicken bones in the vinegar,
because they are not working against Earth’s
gravity. Astronauts must be sure to eat foods that
contain plenty of calcium and to do a lot of
exercise to keep their bodies healthy and bones
strong.
Health: Living and working in space may make
it easier for astronauts to become sick or develop
diseases. Classrooms like spaceships are enclosed
spaces where germs spread easily like the rice
Your Body in Space
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