Roles and Goals

Roles and Goals

Students have been selected to form a student space force to board the New Horizons

spacecraft traveling to Pluto. As members of this elite team, their goal is to document their

experience and share their insights on the dwarf planet with their peers.

Before Your Mission to Pluto

What is Pluto?

How big is Pluto?

Where is it located in the solar system?

What are some of its defining features?

How many moons are in Pluto’s orbit?

Can life exist on Pluto?

Have students write down at least five facts they know about Pluto. For example:

Compile students’ facts into a class list. They might check their facts, or find out more

information on the Planets for Kids website.

Then, invite them to make a prediction based on what they already know: What do they

think it would be like to visit Pluto?

During Your Mission

Now, students will experience the NYT VR video “Seeking Pluto’s Frigid Heart.” As they

watch, they should pay attention to Pluto’s unique characteristics. After viewing, they should

record what they observe about Pluto:

Location in the solar system

Surface features

Temperature

Gravity

Moons

Atmosphere

After Your Mission

What was it like to “visit” Pluto in the V.R. film? How close were your predictions to what

you experienced? Based on what saw, what do you think it would be like to actually go

there?

What are some of the defining characteristics of Pluto? How do those compare to what

you know about Earth?

What is one new thing we learned from the New Horizons mission to Pluto? What

questions do you still have about the dwarf planet?

What do these insights reveal about the universe we live in?

Students should report back to the space command center to share the insights they

gained on their mission. Invite them to reflect on the following questions in writing or

discussion:

To share what the New Horizons mission found when it flew past Pluto, The New York

Times created this interactive based on images and information from NASA. Invite your

students to demonstrate what they learned about Pluto by creating an original drawing or

series of drawings and annotating them with key information about the dwarf planet.

Further Reading and Viewing

NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft Sends Signal From Pluto to Earth

Images of Pluto From NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft