A "choose your own adventure" workshop
Caroline-Emmanuelle Morisset, Senior Scientist, Lunar and Planetary Science at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and Olivia Marleau from the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec conducting the workshop live from the CSA's library. (Credit: CSA)
If you grew up way, way back in the s, you most likely read at least one "choose your own adventure" book, in which the reader makes decisions that affect the outcome of the story. The series was very popular in classrooms and libraries at that time.
Last year, when the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) asked the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to take part in La cabane à culture, a "choose your own adventure workshop" was created. The results: over 39,000 young people in grades 3 and 4 participated, from Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, New Brunswick and the Yukon (and even a few from France, Belgium, Michigan and Louisiana!).
Searching for water ice on the Moon
La cabane à culture is a French-language program in which artists and scientists share their passion with students via virtual meetings. Stemming from the relationship between the CSA's Larkin Kerwin Library and BAnQ, the CSA's "cabane" was conducted in collaboration with the École en réseau as well as the libraries and the pedagogical advisor from the Marguerite-Bourgeoys school service centre in Montreal. This great partnership allowed for an interactive workshop and related activities about space, all highly educational, to be jointly developed.
The workshop was a simulated rover mission in which young people searched for water ice on the Moon and learned about what geologists do. Caroline-Emmanuelle Morisset, Senior Scientist, Lunar and Planetary Science at the CSA, gave four workshops in and four more on and . Over 16,000 young people took part in these workshops in the first year and close to 23,000 others took part in the second year, breaking all of La cabane à culture's previous records.
Caroline-Emmanuelle Morisset showed the participants samples of anorthosite and basalt, which are also found on the Moon. (Credit: CSA)
Getting prepared in order to make informed decisions
Before the workshop, the participants received a workbook and a Padlet containing preparatory activities and additional resources. Librarians from the Marguerite-Bourgeoys school service centre and the CSA's library also provided a list of suggested reading about space.
During the workshop, the young people learned about the Canadian lunar rover that is being developed and the composition and geology of the Moon. Over the course of their mission, they had to make decisions about whether their rover should land:
- at one of the Moon's poles or at its equator based on the presence of hydrogen (and therefore the possibility of water ice)
- in January or July
- in a lit or a shadowed area
and whether they should explore a scientifically promising crater via a gentle slope that was far away or a steeper slope that was close by (taking into consideration the risks, available energy, etc.).
Lastly, Caroline-Emmanuelle Morisset challenged the students to do a geology activity after the workshop in order to further their learning.
Positive outcome
Thanks to Caroline-Emmanuelle's teaching skills and the students' good decisions, the rover mission was a success every time. The teachers and youth particularly appreciated the interactive nature of the workshop, the question period and the fact that the activity was tailor-made for young people.
For our team, comments like these make it all worth it:
"My students want to learn more. Curiosity in action!"
"We learned a lot, and we're going to keep seeking out answers to our questions."
"The students showed a lot of interest, both during the preparations and the actual workshop. […] Kids this age love all things space. We also have a student who wants to be a geologist, and I think that the workshop really captured her attention."
Because part of our mission is to inspire young people, encourage them to be curious, and get them interested in space.