Name Miss Maggie s Weekly Lesson Packet No. 30 Sept. 25, 2001 Women In Science: The First Hispanic American Woman Astronaut Before you read this non-fiction article, think about these questions: 1. Who is Ellen Ochoa? 2. What did Ellen s mother teach her?
3. What are Ellen s Hispanic roots? 4. Why is education important to Ellen? 5. What did Ellen do in space? 6. Why is playing a flute in space important? Now read the article about Ellen. Then go back and try to answer the questions.
Women In Science: The First Hispanic American Woman Astronaut Who Is Ellen Ochoa? Think about looking at our beautiful blue and green planet from space. You would see your planet as one world. On a globe you see lines. These lines show different countries. When you look at the Earth from space, you don t see any lines. You see one planet. This is a picture Ellen Ochoa has seen many times. Ellen is a United States astronaut. She worked on three space shuttle flights. Besides her exciting life far above the Earth, Ellen has an exciting life on Earth. She is a wife and a mother. What Did Ellen s Mother Teach Her? Family is important to Ellen Ochoa. Her mother was a wonderful role model. She began to take college classes when Ellen was one year old. She raised five children so she could not go to school full time. She took one class at a time. She got her college degree when Ellen was 22 years old. This took many years, but Ellen s mother didn t give up! Ellen learned to work hard from her mother.
What Are Ellen s Hispanic Roots? Ellen s Hispanic roots come from her father. His family is from Mexico. Ellen s dad grew up speaking both Spanish and English. But he did not speak Spanish when Ellen was growing up. At that time, some people felt more comfortable speaking only English in America. Ellen is glad things have changed now. She is proud of her heritage. Today, many people speak Spanish in the United States. Why Is Education Important To Ellen? Ellen had to put off going to college. She had to help her family. After high school, she worked for two years. Then Ellen went to San Diego University. She studied physics. After graduating, Ellen went to Stanford University. She worked hard and earned perfect grades! When Ellen left Stanford she had a Ph.D. Today, Ellen enjoys visiting schools and talking with students. She tells students about the importance of education. She explains it is her education that got her where she is today. Ellen wants young people to know they can reach their goals by getting a good education and working hard.
What Did Ellen Do In Space? Ellen has been in space for over 719 hours. While on the shuttle missions, she works on experiments. These studies look at our atmosphere. She makes observations and takes measurements. People on Earth have used chemicals in things like air conditioners. These chemicals have hurt our atmosphere. Ellen s findings help scientists to better understand how these chemicals and the sun s energy combine to hurt the Earth. Why Is Playing A Flute In Space Important? One interesting thing Ellen did on a space flight was to play her flute! NASA wants to have people with many different skills as astronauts. They look for people with musical ability, people who can speak different languages, or people who have played on sports teams. These skills, and others, show a person can learn quickly and can do many things well. Astronauts need to have these abilities. Ellen Ochoa is certainly a person who can do many things!
Think About It 1. Why is seeing the Earth from space important? 2. Many years ago, some people didn t speak their native language in the United States. Why do you think this was true? Do you know someone who speaks more than one language? What can you learn from this person? 3. How has our atmosphere been hurt? What can you do to protect the Earth s atmosphere? Find out more about our atmosphere. Look at the carbon sensor in the mission, You Must Be Choking at www.missmaggie.org.
Dear Colleagues, This activity is part of our Women In Science series. For two other articles in this growing series, check out the archived packets on our Weekly Activity Packet page. If you have any suggestions for women to be highlighted, please let me know. This particular article was written as part of Hispanic Heritage Month, September 15-October 15, 2001. If you are using the article during this time frame, you might want to focus on the opening paragraph with your students. Read the sentences, On a globe you see lines. These lines show different countries. When you look at the Earth from space, you don t see any lines. You see one planet. Discuss this concept in light of recent world events. Elicit from the students their feelings on this image. To better meet individual needs, we have written this packet for various uses. If you are interested in improving content area reading skills, you will want to duplicate the first two pages with the packet. They will help students set purposes for reading and read to answer questions. Perhaps you are only interested in reading the article about Dr. Ochoa. You can duplicate only the article. We have tried to format this packet so you can pick and choose those aspects most beneficial for your classroom needs. Enjoy and please let me know how I can assist you in your classroom! Kathy Kathy@missmaggie.org