Theory
State the engineering choice you must justify. Stage intent: justify plan.
For teachers
Prepare a mission
Everything you need to run the lesson: the prompts for this academic depth, the diagnostic answer key, the misconceptions to watch for, and the truth boundary to hold.
Choose the mission and depth
Find the pass. Plan the contact.
A satellite can only talk to a ground station while it is above the horizon. That window is short, and it does not happen on demand. Your team will work out when the next window opens, plan what to do with it, and stay honest about the difference between being in view and actually getting the data.
Pilot lesson
What to say at Grade 8
These prompts come from the academic layer, so they change with the depth you selected.
Prediction
Predict which option better satisfies the named criterion.
Running the Twin
Use the Twin to gather comparison evidence for your justification. Runtime remains the frozen Twin; this plan does not execute physics.
Checkpoint
Check that your evidence actually supports the criterion.
Analysis
Justify the choice and name at least one model limitation. Evidence intent: ground track/pass plot + observation/contact plan + model-limitation note.
Engineering decision
Select and defend an engineering option for this mission question.
Limitation
Name at least one frozen-model limitation that this experiment cannot answer.
Provenance
Keep simulated, simulated_sensor, estimator_state, derived, reference, and measured distinct. Never label simulated as measured.
Diagnostic answer key
You can see on a map that the satellite is passing overhead. Does that mean you have received its data?
- ✓ No — being in view, receiving a signal and reading the data are three different things
- · Yes — if you can see it, the data is coming through
- · Only if the map is showing live positions
Timing
One session. Adjust freely — the sequence matters more than the clock.
| When | Stage | What you are doing |
|---|---|---|
| 0–10 min | Mission brief and outcomes | Set the mission question and the success criterion. |
| 10–20 | Diagnostic | Surface prior ideas. No score — this is for you, not them. |
| 20–35 | Visual theory | Work the concept visual. Ask for the idea in their own words. |
| 35–45 | Prediction | Every learner commits in writing before any run. |
| 45–60 | Twin investigation | Baseline first, then the candidate case. |
| 60–70 | Evidence and decision | Compare, choose, and state one limitation. |
| 70–80 | Assessment and result | Formative only. Collect the written reasoning. |
| Home | Home mission | Software-only extension. No hardware, no account. |
Facilitation and the truth boundary
While they work
- Repeat the truth line: tracked ≠ signal received ≠ data decoded.
- Use only the channels visible for the chosen academic level.
- Keep M3-G declared teaching windows separate from M3-A derived pass evidence.
Can the learner make a contact-plan recommendation without upgrading modeled evidence into a reception or decode claim?
Hold this line
- Everything you see is calculated by a model. No radio signal was received and no data was downloaded.
- The windows shown are teaching examples. They are not a real schedule for a real satellite.
- This lesson makes no claim about radio reception or about reading mission data.
Home mission
Home mission: three honest steps
Write a three-step plan for talking to a satellite as it passes overhead. Next to each step, mark whether it is something you can plan from a map, something that needs proof the radio worked, or something that needs proof the data arrived.
Tell us what did not work
Ten questions, answered locally. Nothing is submitted or tracked — you download the file and send it if you want to.
Informal educator feedback
This local-first form contains the ten approved pilot-review questions. It does not submit, track, or store data remotely. Optional name/contact should be handled outside this form only if a reviewer volunteers it.