The Great Space Race

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union, presently known as Russia, began an intense competition to prove their political ideas were superior.

This period, which lasted until 1991, is called the Cold War. One of the ways each side attempted to prove superiority over the other was to increase their technology in space. The effort to put the first pieces of technology and men in space became known as the space race.

Learn more about the space race using the following interactive timeline.

As you examine it, keep track of which side was ahead in the space race: the United States or the Soviet Union. You can keep track of each side's accomplishments by creating the following chart on a piece of paper.

Each time you read an example of a United States accomplishment in space travel and technology, write a tally mark on the United States side of the chart. Each time you read an example of a Soviet Union accomplishment, put a tally mark on the Soviet Union side of the chart.

When you are finished reviewing the timeline, use the chart you created to help you answer the following questions.

You can write your questions on a separate piece of paper or type your responses in the spaces provided below.

When you have finished answering the questions, move on to the Got It? section to take a virtual tour of one of the largest displays of spacecraft in the United States.