Lesson Plan - What’s That in the Sky?

Watch a Video: Are We Alone?
After students watch, have them turn and talk with a partner and discuss: How are people trying to investigate the possibility of extraterrestrial life?

Preview Words to Know
Project the online vocabulary slideshow and introduce the Words to Know. 

• phenomena
• extraterrestrial

Set a Purpose for Reading
As students read, have them think about why it might be difficult to explain possible UFO sightings.

1. What is this article mostly about?
The article is about how the U.S. government has investigated some UFO sightings but can’t explain most of them.
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2. According to the article, what led to people’s fascination with extraterrestrial beings in the mid-1900s?
The article states that fascination with extraterrestrial beings really took off after the development of modern rockets in the mid-1900s.
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3. What possible explanations are given for UFO sightings in the sidebar, “UFO Sightings Explained”?
The sidebar notes that some UFO sightings might be flocks of birds, weather balloons, drones, cloud formations, optical illusions, or spy planes.
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FEATURED SKILL: Reflect on Reading
“Three Big Questions” is based on a questioning strategy from Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst’s book Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters. 
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