Women in Space
Unit: 8. Women in Space
Activity 1: Let’s see how much we have understood
(a) Where was Kalpana Chawla born?
Ans:- Kalpana Chawla was born in 1961 at Karnal in Haryana.
(b) Where did Kalpana Chawla study?
Ans:- She studied at Tagore Bal Niketan at Karnal and later at Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh.
(c) What was Kalpana Chawla’s dream?
ANS:- Her dream was flying in space.
(d) Why did she go to the United States of America?
Ans:- She went to the United States of America with the dream of flying in space.
(e) What does NASA stand for?
Ans:- NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
(f) How many times did Kalpana Chawla go into space?
Ans:- Kalpana Chawla went into space two times: first in the Columbia Space Shuttle STS-87, and again in 2003 in mission STS-107.
(g) How did Kalpana Chawla die?
Ans:- She died when the space shuttle Columbia broke up in flames on its way back to Earth in 2003, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
Activities with Dates and Grammar
Activity 2: Important dates and numbers:
i) 1961: The year Kalpana Chawla was born at Karnal in Haryana.
ii) 2003: The year Kalpana Chawla went into space for the second time and the year the space shuttle Columbia broke up in flames.
iii) STS-87: The Columbia Space Shuttle mission on which Kalpana Chawla first went into space.
iv) STS-107: The Columbia Space Shuttle mission on which Kalpana Chawla went into space the second time.
Activity 4: Let’s learn some grammar
(a) Write the sentence in Direct Speech:
Indirect Speech: Mayuri said that she had read about it on the internet.
Direct Speech: Mayuri said, “I read about it on the internet.”
(b) Rewrite the sentences correctly in Indirect Speech
i) Direct Speech: Mayuri said to Manas, “Do you know what NASA is?”
Incorrect Indirect Speech: Mayuri said to Manas that does he know what NASA is?
Corrected Indirect Speech : Mayuri asked Manas whether he knew what NASA was. |
ii) Direct Speech: Manas said, “Our country will always remember her.”
Incorrect Indirect Speech: Manas said that “our country would always remember her.”
Corrected Indirect Speech : Manas said that their country would always remember her. |
Activity 5: Let’s revise verb forms (Fill in the blanks)
Now fill in the blanks with suitable forms of verbs:
(i) Mayuri meets Manas on her way to school. (s form of meet) .
(ii) I’m sure she loved flying in space. (past form of love) .
(iii) It has flown to the sky. (past participle of fly) .
(iv) Flying to space was Kalpana’s dream. (an ing form of fly) .
Word-Based Activities
Activity 8: Question Words
The box contains certain words used to ask questions. The clearest words are found horizontally:
* WHERE
* WHO
Activity 9: Fun with words (Remove the first letter)
Original Word New Word
flight light
send. end
space pace
craft. raft
know now
there here
Three more words like the above:
* Smile – mile
* Train – rain
* Charm – harm
Activity 10: Form new words from the letters in ‘because’ (B, E, C, A, U, S, E)
* be
* case
* use
* sea
* bus
* cube
* ace
* see
* base
* abs
* sue
Task-Based Activities (Action Required)
The following activities require you or your classmates to perform an action (like drawing, speaking, or working in a group) rather than providing a single concrete answer.
Activity 3: Make a poster of Kalpana Chawla
This is a creative task. You need to design a poster for a science exhibition, including her childhood information and her work details.
Activity 6: Collect a picture of an astronaut
This is a hands-on task. You need to collect a picture of an astronaut, paste it into your notebook, and write a few sentences about him or her.
Activity 7: Let’s practise speaking in English
This is a speaking activity. You should use the phrase ‘Have you heard’ to ask your partner questions about space, similar to the examples provided.
Activity 11: Sit in pairs and tell each other what you want to be
This is a pair-work/speaking activity. You and your partner should discuss what you want to be when you grow up and why.
Activity 12: Project Work
This is a group project. Your group is required to:
* Prepare a questionnaire with at least ten questions using wh-words (What, Where, Why, When, Who, Whom, How).
* The questionnaire should aim to find out how many students know about Kalpana Chawla, their opinion on women taking up Space Science, and how many girls would like to be astronauts.
* Administer the questionnaire to students of other classes.
* Count and note down the findings.
* Share the findings with the class.