How The Planets Cleaned Up Space

Transcription

1 How The Planets Cleaned Up Space A Story about the Game Asteroid Written by Amanda Clément Illustrated by Patrick Scherr, Sue Clément, and André Clément

2 A Note to the Parents, Teachers, and Caregivers Why Health Literacy? To reinforce positive and healthy lifestyle choices, physical activity is an important element in development. This narrative invites children to partake in an inventive interpretation of SaskSport s Asteroid, a game that teaches movement, manipulative, and social skills. Health Literacy allows parents, teachers, and caregivers to adequately instill true enjoyment of exercise and physical activity. The game Asteroid is a fun and easy way to encourage children to engage in physical activity and may be used as a fun exercise at any age. In addition to teaching the game Asteroid, this book introduces children to the names and order of the planets as well as a very basic knowledge of outer space. Why this Game in Written Form? Intellectual learning is an important aspect as well as physical learning. By creating this book, children can see how the game is to be played while being introduced and/or exposed to science and astronomy. The goal of this book is to teach children space awareness, peer support, discipline, to reinforce throwing and catching skills, and to instill a positive attitude. Fun is the most important outcome of the game.

3 1 Have you ever wondered why there are weirdlooking rock shapes in outer space? Those are called asteroids. Asteroids are leftover chunks of planets covered in dust. They are floating all over in space! This is the story about how the planets had fun cleaning up outer space!

4 To make the clean-up more fun, we decided to make a game out of it. 2 A long time ago everything was a mess in outer space. There were asteroids everywhere! All the planets were tired of always having junk lying around. They decided it was time to clean up. They thought it would be best if all the asteroids were placed in the same area. They named it the Asteroid Belt.

5 The first thing we did was make two teams. Since we were lined up in order, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars were on one team and Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune were on the other team. Pluto was the referee. 3

6 4 The planets decided that team one would be on one side of the Milky Way and team two would be on the other. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars were playing offense. Their job was to pick up the asteroids and throw them through the Milky Way into the Asteroid Belt. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune sat in the Asteroid Belt. They had to try to catch the asteroids and throw them out into a black hole. If they didn t catch the asteroids, the offense would score a point and the asteroids would stay in the Belt.

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8 Before we start the game, we need to decide how long we ll play for, Earth said. Let s play for 10,000 years, said Uranus. That would be four minutes on planet Earth, said Jupiter. 6 Let s see how many asteroids we can land in the Belt in that time! said Mercury.

9 Earth picked up the first asteroid and threw it over. Jupiter caught it! Because he caught Earth s asteroid, no point was scored. Good catch, Jupiter! Jupiter then threw it into the black hole where it disappeared forever. 87

10 This is fun! I like this game! Earth said. Earth picked up another asteroid and threw it onto the other team s side. Saturn ran up to where the asteroid was going to land and was ready to catch it. Uh oh! The asteroid fell right through her rings! Team Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars scored their first point. 8

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12 10 Mercury, an offensive player, grabbed an asteroid. He launched it to the other side. It landed between Neptune and Jupiter, who couldn t catch it in time. Mercury scored another point for his team!

13 The game continued on for some time until Earth passed the ball to Mercury. With his great speed, Mercury ran to the front of his team s boundary and threw the ball toward Saturn and Neptune. Both the planets were so busy trying to catch the ball that they didn t notice where the other planet was! 11

14 CRASH! Saturn and Neptune ran into each other! (Just a hint: always be on the look-out for your teammates. You don t want to run into each other!) 12

15 Team Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars showed fair play and stopped playing the game while their opponents got up. Uh oh, are you two alright? asked Pluto. Be careful! Saturn and Neptune got up quickly and the game was back on. 13

16 The time was running out and that s game! announced Pluto. Both teams stopped playing and came toward each other. They shook hands and thanked the other for a fun game. The score didn t matter to them - they were having a good time with their friends and making clean-up fun. 14

17 Being active is fun and good for you! It s all about fun! When you re playing with friends, the score shouldn t matter. I think our game would be better with three planets per team. We had four because we didn t want to leave anyone behind, Venus said. And remember: always be a good sport with a positive attitude. 15

18 Have you ever read a book about outer space? Did you see those asteroids floating around? Those are there because of the planets! Those are what the planets used when they made up the game. Back down here on Earth we play Asteroid slightly differently: We use balls instead of asteroids. We play on the ground instead of in space. We use cones instead of the Milky Way to outline the boundaries. Kids and adults play instead of planets. 16

19 From all of the planets way up here in space, we hope you have fun playing Asteroid! THE END This book was developed in partial fulfillment of KIN 180: Growth and Development Course at the University of Regina, For more fun and active games visit the SaskSport website 17

20 Health Review How The Planets Cleaned up Space teaches children fundamental movement skills, manipulative skills, and social skills while introducing them to the structures and basic set-up of outer space. The planets demonstrate that cleaning up can be fun. The book teaches children to be active and encourages a good attitude along with fair play. Amanda Clément was born in Langley, British Columbia and moved to Regina, Saskatchewan, in She is bilingual and currently enrolled at the University of Regina in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies. She wishes to become a physiotherapist. Special thanks to Patrick Scherr, also a University of Regina student. Honorable mentions to Sue and Andre Clément for their support and help with the book.