FRAME the lesson by introducing the concept of airborne remote sensing and the problem for the unit.

Show students a globe or picture of the earth.

Ask students:

• Are there ways to examine places and events on the earth without being there? If necessary, prompt students to think about weather reports on the news, or reports of occurrences in other cities or countries.
• Is it useful to be able to be able to examine events on the earth from other places?
• Why not just examine each region of interest on the earth in person?
• Why might it be necessary to study certain places on the surface of the earth from above? 

Refer students to find the Mission request letter (ARS-1) in their journal.

Prompt students to read the Mission request letter (ARS-1).

• Circle terms they cannot define or do not understand
• Underline the major problem discussed in the letter

Sample student responses:

• TV/news reports
• Satellite images of the weather or land formations
• Information on the internet 
• Yes, it can help with weather prediction, studying changes on the earth, e.g., volcanoes, earthquakes, etc.
• Yes, we can see changes in the earth.
• Yes, we can keep an eye on other countries, natural disasters such as forest fires, deserts, floods, etc.
• It takes time and is expensive to explore every area of interest in person.
• Sometimes we are not allowed or can't go to certain areas, e.g., inside a volcano, deep jungle, country borders, etc.
• We might need to see a wider view.

Student activity: 

• Read Mission request letter (ARS-1)
• Circled words may include: airborne, mission, Kilauea
• Underlined words: "locating the active lava flows on Kilauea."

Discuss their role as airborne mission scientists to locate active lava flows on the Kilauea volcano, one of the world's most active volcanoes. 

Ask which words in the letter are you having difficulty with?

Ask what problem have you been requested to investigate? 

Inform students that they will be learning about one method for studying the earth, remote sensing, specifically airborne remote sensing. Students will actually be role playing scientists who use aeronautics and remote sensing to study the earth, but first you need to figure out what aeronautics and remote sensing are!

Teacher note:
Why would a scientist want to know where active lava flows are located?

While the KaAMS scenario is plausible, it is fictitious.  It is important to note that volcanologists are interested in the location of active lava flows because it provides them with information about the current activity of a volcano. At Kilauea, for example, although the eruption is essentially constant, there isn't always lava flowing on the surface. For months at a time the lava will be flowing in self-made lava tubes all the way from the vent to the ocean, and not seeing the light of day along the way except at rare skylights into the tube. Knowing the location of surface flows during such times informs the volcanologist that there has been a breakdown in the tube system, either due to a strong pulse of lava or to a blockage within the tube.

Sample student response:

• Kilauea is surrounded by several communities and is an important tourist attraction, therefore is an important part of the economy on the big island of Hawaii.
• Knowledge about the location of active lava flows will allow the Parks and Forests Commission to provide tourists with information about where the volcano might be safely viewed. 
• It could also provide valuable information that will allow plans for emergency evacuation routes to be revised in the event that surface flows extend into populated areas.

• Direct students to read the following passage written by Mark Twain about his Journey to Kilauea. This should excite them about volcanoes and peak their interest in studying them.

Direct students to read the first four paragraphs of a letter he wrote in 1873 for the New York Tribune in the wake of the death of King Kamehameha V. It should give them a sense of where the Hawaiian Islands are located and a sense of the climate on the "big island" called Hawaii.

Optional student activity: 

Read Mark Twain's letters about the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) to get a sense of what the climate is like in Hawaii and what it is like to climb to the top of an active volcano.

INFORM students of important concepts they will be exploring and the expected outcomes of this unit.

Show remotely sensed images. Note: Enter "remote sensing" and click search for a list of images to promote student interest in learning about remote sensing and aeronautics and how they are used by scientists.

Teacher note: At this point it is appropriate to motivate students and prompt their thinking about the final project they will build during KaAMS. Describe what you have in mind for the KaAMS lessons and end products:

• Students will work in groups and role play different types of airborne mission scientists while planning an airborne remote sensing mission ultimately gathering and analyzing real NASA remote sensing data. 
• At the end of their scientific exploration students will develop a final product that describes the decision-making and problem solving they utilized as well as their findings. 
• Briefly describe your expectations for the final product and distribute the project rubrics.
• Students will work in groups throughout the unit to create their final project.

Student activity:

• View images and begin to think about the concepts of remote sensing, aeronautics, and scientific explorations.

• Review final project rubrics

Options for the final project may include: See Go Public lesson plan for further descriptions and rubrics.

• Create an electronic poster or website.
• Create a model.
• Write science reports. 
• Develop a portfolio.
• Conduct a science fair on the project and findings.
• Conduct a science review meeting. Each student takes a role in describing the investigation and findings and a panel of teachers and scientists attend as guests to critique and inquire about the projects findings

EXPLORE concepts of remote sensing and aeronautics. Students explore the meaning of remote sensing and aeronautics ultimately developing a conceptual knowledge of how they relate to scientific exploration.

Prompt students to explore the meaning and develop definitions for remote sensing and aeronautics:

• A lesson plan to have students develop a working definition of remote sensing.
• Define aerospace and astronautics using the online dictionary 1 for aerospace and astronautics. 
• Prompt students to develop a definition of aeronautics and compare it to the definition in the online dictionary 2 for aeronautics.

• On-line remote sensing tutorial
• On-line aeronautics textbook
• Information on Kilauea from Volcano World: a web-based source of volcano information
• General information on remote sensing

Student activity:

• Explore information on remote sensing. 

• Aerospace/astronautics/aeronautics definitions activity
   
• Define aerospace and astronautics – online dictionary 1 for aerospace and astronautics. 
• Develop a definition of aeronautics from what you now know about aerospace and astronautics.
• Check your definition of aeronautics – online dictionary 2 for aeronautics.

• Record responses on Activity sheet: Defining the terms (ARS-2).

TRY applying their new knowledge on remote sensing and aeronautics.

Direct students to develop their own definition of the following terms:
See Activity sheet: Defining the terms (ARS-2).

• remote sensing
• aeronautics
• aerospace
• airborne remote sensing

Prompt students to include a list of reasons for using aircraft for remote sensing instead of satellites.

Prompt students to share their definitions and lists with the class. 

State in the next class you will begin to explore what airborne mission scientists are and how they explore the world.

Student activity:

• Describe the terms remote sensing, aeronautics, aerospace, and airborne remote sensing either through writing descriptions, drawing and labeling pictures, creating a poster, or building a simple web page.
  See Activity sheet: Defining the terms (ARS-2).

Sample student responses:

• coverage of any part of the planet at any specific time
• collect very detailed images
• cost of aircraft is less than satellite or space remote sensing