Create an Orbiting Space Colony!

This project requires by far the most imagination of any project we have done! Space colonies have been dreamed about for centuries, but they are becoming very close to possible! You can win a NASA contest by designing one in the next two weeks!

 Read more about this at http://space.mike-combs.com/index.htm

Here are some resources that can help you:

Here is the contest information: http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/

Here is an online course in how to create a space colony using the science NASA already has. You can go through as fast or as slowly as you need to, and it will help you figure out how to be realistic about your space colony. http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/teacher/course/

There is this guy, Al Globus, who thinks A LOT about space settlement. Check out his website for almost ENDLESS ideas!!! http://space.alglobus.net/

On this message board, people share names of stories that take place in space colonies. Reading some of these might help you get creative ideas! http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-85321.html

Remember! Not everything you read on wikipedia is true or accurate, but this still has a lot of ideas. If you want to know whether a fact on there is true or not, look for it from another source. If you can back it up, you can believe it! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_colonization

Gobs and oodles and tons of information, brought to you from the folks at NASA!! Look around, read whatever you want, and if you really want to buy a book  listed, just talk to Ms. Anke! http://www.nss.org/settlement/library.html

Take the Glencoe Chapter 29 test to learn about Earth and its atmosphere:  http://www.glencoe.com/qe/scienceOLC.php?qi=7211

Design an Eco-Friendly House!

Here is a gallery of architectural styles to give you ideas for your own home design. http://architecture.about.com/od/periodsstyles/ig/House-Styles/colonial-cape-cod-2268048.htm

Check out the green home being built by Battlestar Gallactica celebrity, Tricia Helfer! http://www.triciagreen.com/index.htm

Design a 3D house and walk through it with the guidance of famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright! http://www.architectstudio3d.org/AS3d/home.html

Take a quiz to see how much you know about what it takes to build a house! http://home.howstuffworks.com/house-quiz.htm

Read the CA Green Building Codes and make sure your building is up to snuff! http://www.documents.dgs.ca.gov/bsc/CALGreen/2010_CA_Green_Bldg.pdf

When you want to choose a location, check it out to see what the zone is. http://gisweb.ci.richmond.ca.us/website/webapppublic/zoning/

You can see information about different places in Richmond, including race, population and wealth, by creating your choice of maps here: http://www.socialexplorer.com/pub/maps/map3.aspx?g=0&mapi=SE0012

Read Chapter 16.1 in McDougal Littell Biology and take the quiz online! Click here: http://www.classzone.com/cz/books/bio_07/quiz.htm?title=Section%20Quiz&ch=5&testId=18262

Here is a radio story about what has been happening to real estate in America. The show tells the story by following what happened to one specific house. http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/01/13/pm-lot-354-a-tale-of-americas-housing-meltdown/

Once you have designed your house, you can learn how to calculate your LEED rating here: http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=3638

Create and Run a Country!

January's first project is to create and run an imaginary country. You can find most resources on the Project Resources table in the classroom, but there are also some more links here. 

Check out Hammurabi's Laws.  Watch the story of how they came to be. http://www1.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=196344&title=Fertile_Crescent___Soggy_Bottom_
Read the oldest written law code and write your reactions. http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MESO/CODE.HTM

Take the Street Law chapter assessment to show you understand law enforcement in the United States before  you design your own law enforcement system. http://www.glencoe.com/qe/qe143.php?qi=4518

This page explains how to make a scale map. http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Map

Make a good PowerPoint- not an ugly one! Here's how: http://www1.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=35662