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A Content Unit in Astronautics for the Sixth Grade
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Title
A Content Unit in Astronautics for the Sixth Grade
Abstract
In a speech before the Congress of the United States, President John F..Kennedy said,
Now it is time to take longer strides—time for a great new American enterprise--time for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement, which in many ways, may hold the key to our future on earth.
Space is open to us now, and our eagerness to share its meaning is not governed by the efforts of others. We go into space because whatever mankind must undertake, free men must fully share.
I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space, and none will be so difficult to accomplish.
With these words the platform for thinking and activity in 1962 and the challenge for the years ahead were presented to the American people.
During the past sixty years Western society has
been dominated by the influence of major developments in science and technology. This period had been marked by the emergence in rapid succession of new fields of engineering and new industries. Society passed rapidly from the automotive age to the air age, to the nuclear age, and now to the age of space exploration.
Each of these scientific developments has had a profound impact on every aspect of human affairs. Each provided in essence a mere change in man's physical environment and in the tools which he had at his disposal,
but each produced many other changes in his way of life. There were important and direct effects on the economic development of the nation. There were important contributions to national defense through the application of the new knowledge to military devices. There were major influences on the education of children and on nearly every aspect of political and social life. Scientific
and technological developments have played an increasing role in international relations. Finally there were important repercussions on human thought and aspirations. o
The task of absorbing these implications is a difficult and slow process, and the major responsibility for it becomes the professional educator’s responsibility.
Date
01/01/1964
Type of Publication
Author(s)
Vincent, Leonard F.
Content
Construct
Institution(s)
University of Southern California
Department(s)
Education
Peer-Reviewed Status
Number of Pages
160
Thesis type
Resource Type
Nation(s) of Study
United States of America
Language
English