Cold War · 1957-1969

The space race

In 1957 the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first satellite. Twelve years later two Americans walked on the Moon. Students find the launch sites on the map, keep score of the "firsts" and ask how a Cold War rivalry pushed people into space.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 1960
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In 1957 the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first satellite. Twelve years later two Americans walked on the Moon. Students find the launch sites on the map, keep score of the "firsts" and ask how a Cold War rivalry pushed people into space.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain why the United States and the Soviet Union raced each other into space.
  • Name the main "firsts" of the space race and who achieved them.
  • Locate the launch sites at Baikonur and Cape Canaveral and explain why they were placed there.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1960

Two launch sites

Open the map in 1960 and zoom out. Find the steppe of Kazakhstan in the southern USSR and the coast of Florida in the United States. Ask the atlas: "Where did Soviet and American space rockets take off?"

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1960

Florida

Zoom in on Cape Canaveral on Florida's Atlantic coast. Why might engineers launch rockets eastward over the ocean, and as far south as possible?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1960

Mission Control

Find Houston in Texas, home of Mission Control for the Apollo flights. Ask the atlas: "What did the Apollo 11 astronauts say from the Moon?"

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Why did the launch of Sputnik in 1957 frighten many Americans?
  2. Rockets that could carry satellites could also carry nuclear warheads. How did that link space and the Cold War?
  3. Why do you think Kennedy promised in 1961 to land a man on the Moon before the decade was out?
  4. The Soviet Union sent the first woman into space in 1963. The first American woman flew only in 1983. Why do you think it took so long?
  5. The space race cost enormous sums. Was it worth it? Think of satellites, weather forecasts and phones.
4

Game round

9 min

No ruler in Rule History lived in the space age. Play one round as Peter the Great, who pushed Russia to catch up with the West in science and technology. Then compare: how did Khrushchev and Kennedy use science to show their country's strength?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.