School-wide Project

American Astronauts

(3rd grade)

NBE students will participate in a school-wide at home project. Each grade level will focus on space as part of our school theme for the 2016-2017 school year. Third grade will focus on American Astronauts. The first part of this project will require the student to create a foldable with information about an astronaut. The second part of the assignment is to bring in two artifacts to represent that astronaut’s life. Below you will find directions and a list of suggested astronauts your child can research. This project will count as a Social Studies project and test grade for the third grading period.

Directions:

1.  Each student will research a famous American Astronaut with the assistance of his or her parents/guardian.

2.  You may use the internet, library books, or up to date encyclopedias to gather your information.

3.  Students will create a Foldable Biography -This will include pictures, interesting facts, a timeline and information about the person’s life and contributions.

This project will be graded based on 2 components:

(1) Foldable Biography

(2) Artifacts reflecting person’s life

Please refer to the detailed rubric regarding the grading of this project. If turned in late, five points will be deducted from the final grade each day.

This project is due on February 21, 2017

This project will be fun and informative. Please set aside multiple days for your child to work on it at home.

Suggested list of American Astronauts:

Neil Armstrong John Glenn Buzz Aldrin Sally Ride

Jim Lovell Joan Higginbothan Ron McNair Guion Bluford

Rubric for American Astronauts Project

Name:______Date: ______Score:___/30

Foldable Portion
Organization
3 / 2 / 1
The biography reflects 3 areas of the person’s life. (childhood, adulthood, and contributions or achievements) / The biography reflects 2 areas of the person’s life. (childhood, adulthood, and contributions or achievements) / The biography reflects 1 area of the person’s life. (childhood, adulthood, and contributions or achievements)
Information
3 / 2 / 1
The biography reflects 4 – 7 facts about their childhood. / The biography reflects 2 -3 facts about their childhood. / The biography reflects 1 fact about their childhood.
3 / 2 / 1
The biography reflects 4 – 7 facts about their adulthood. / The biography reflects 2-3 facts about their adulthood. / The biography reflects 1 fact
about their adulthood.
3 / 2 / 1
The biography reflects 4 – 7 facts about their contributions or achievements. / The biography reflects 2 -3 facts about their contributions or achievements. / The biography reflects 1 fact about their contributions or achievements.
Timeline
3 / 2 / 1
The timeline reflects 7 – 10 major events & dates. / The timeline reflects 4 - 6 major events & dates. / The timeline reflects 3 or less major events & dates.
Interesting Facts
3 / 2 / 1
At least 3 interesting facts are included about person. / Only 2 interesting facts are included about person. / Only 1 interesting fact is included about person.
Illustrations/Photos
3 / 2 / 1
2 illustrations/photos are used / 1 illustration/photo is used / No illustrations/photos are used
Artifacts
3 / 2 / 1
2 artifacts accompany the project to reflect a time in the person’s life. / 1 artifact accompanies the project to reflect a time in the person’s life.
. / No artifacts accompany the project to reflect a time in the person’s life.
Neatness
3 / 2 / 1
Handwriting is neat and photos are securely attached. / Handwriting is legible and photos are attached. / Handwriting is legible but contains several mark outs.
Conventions
3 / 2 / 1
All words are spelled correctly. Student uses correct capitalization and punctuation throughout report. / Few spelling mistakes. Student uses correct capitalization and punctuation throughout most of the report. / Many words are misspelled. Student does not use correct capitalization and punctuation throughout report.

* If turned in late, five points will deducted from final grade each day.

Foldable Biography

3rd graders are familiar with rubrics and how to grade their work. Please refer to the attached rubric when completing the project.