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About Alien Rescue
Alien Rescue is a hypermedia instructional program designed to engage 6th graders in solving a complex problem. Its science fiction premise takes students to a newly operational international space station, where they become a part of a worldwide effort to rescue alien life forms. To accomplish this goal, students take on the role of scientists and learn specific information about both our solar system and the tools and procedures scientists use to gather that information.
Alien Rescue engages students in sustained, cooperative problem-solving, and encourages the development of robust knowledge. It is designed in accordance with the National Science Education Standards and the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills guidelines. While the primary learning objectives of Alien Rescue focus on astronomy and space travel, the program offers ties to other areas of the curriculum, including life science, math, and history.
Alien Rescue provides a rich variety of cognitive tools, including a database of information on our solar system, a database on the alien characteristics, a database on probe missions carried out by NASA, a probe design simulation tool, a notebook, tutorials on scientific concepts, spectrogram, and periodic table.
With all these cognitive tools at their fingertips, students can concentrate on solving the problem, and teachers can make best use of their time to facilitate the learning process. The roles of students and teachers are therefore shifted. Students become active seekers of knowledge, while the teacher becomes the "guide on the side," helping students find the information and learn the skills they need to solve the problem.
