Women in Space | Lesson 8 | English Class 7 | SCERT, Assam

Lesson : 8
Women in Space
Page No : 95-106

Who are these women? Can you guess what is common among them? Rearrange the letters in the box A T S R N O T U S A  to get the answer. Write down the word in the oval below :

Did you guess the word? All these women are famous astronauts. Some of them have even studied Science outside the Earth!

In pairs, make a list of the things scientists study outside the Earth.

Then read the lesson to find out more about one such famous astronaut who was from India.

Mayuri and Manas are classmates. On their way to school, they discuss the project to be submitted on Science Day.

Manas    :    Hello, Mayuri ! Have you completed the project on Women in Space?

Mayuri    :    Yes, it's almost complete. I wrote about Kalpana Chawla, the first "Indian woman in space. Have you read anything about her?

Manas    :    Oh, yes. India's first satellite built to study weather conditions was named Kalpana-1 after her.

Mayuri    :    Yes, I read about it on the internet.

Manas    :    It was an important piece of news at that time. I read about Kalpana Chawla's death in a space shuttle accident. I also read that she was the first Indian woman astronaut , but I don't know anything else about her. Can you tell me something about her? I'm so curious to know.

Mayuri    :    Well, as far as I know, Kalpana Chawla was born in 1961 at Karna !in Haryana. She studied at Tagore Bal Niketan at Kamal and la ter at Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh

Manas    :    I'm sure she loved flying in space.

Mayuri : Oh, yes. Flying in space was her dream. She w ent to the United States of America to train to become an astronaut. Do you know what NASA is?

Manas    :    No. What is it?

Mayuri    :    It's the National Aeronautical and Space Administration of the U.S.A. NASA sends satellites to space.

Manas    :    I see

Mayuri    :    In 1997 Kalpana Chawla joined the Columbia Space Shuttle Flight STS-87. She was the only woman in the team of seven astronauts .

Manas    :    What was the purpose of the flight?

Mayuri    :    It was to study the outer atmosphere of the sun.

Manas    :    Very Interesting!

Mayuri    :    Yes, it was. They managed to collect a lot of important data. But the space vehicle broke up in flames on its way back to Earth.

Manas    :    Where exactly did it happen?

Mayuri    :    At a height of 61,000 metres above Texas. All the seven astronauts including Kalpana Chawla were killed.

Manas    :    What a great loss! But we are very proud of her. Our country will always remember her.

ACTIVITIES

1. Let's see how much we have understood:

(a) Who was the first Indian woman astronaut?

Ans: Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian woman astronaut.

(b) Why was the satellite Kalpana-1 built?

Ans: The satellite Kalpana-1was built to study the weather conditions.

(c) Where was Kalpana Chawla from?

Ans: Kalpana Chawla was from Karnal, Haryana.

(d) What was Kalpana Chawla 's dream?

Ans: Kalpana Chawla 's dream was to fly in space.

(e) What docs NASA do?

Ans: NASA sends satellites to space.

Or, / অথবা,

    NASA explores space, earth, and the solar system. To get the information they send satellites and astronauts to the space by space shuttle and the rockets.

(f) What was the aim of the Columbia Space Shuttle Flight STS-87?

Ans: The aim of the Columbia Space Shuttle Flight STS-87 was to study the outer atmosphere of the Sun.

(g) How did Kalpana Chawla die?

Ans: Kalpana Chawla died due to the broken space vehicle in flames when they were on its way back to the Earth.

2. In the lesson you read about some important dates and numbers. See whether you remember what each number stands for:

1961 : Kalpana Chawla was born at Karnal in Haryana.

1997 : Kalpana Chawla joined the Columbia space Shuttle Flight STS-87.

STS-87: It is the flight which named as Columbia space Shuttle Flight STS-87

61,000m. : All the seven astronauts including Kalpana Chawla were killed at a height of 61,000 metres above Texas.

3.Make a poster of Kalpana Chawla for your science exhibition in the box below. Include her childhood information and her work details in your poster.

Answer:

4. Here is a sentence in Indirect Speech. Write the sentence in Direct Speech in the space below. Remember to use inverted commas:

Mayuri said that she had read about it on the internet.
Ans: Mayuri said, “I have read about it on the internet.”

(b) In Column A below are two sentences In Direct Speech. In Column B there are the matching sentences in Indirect Speech. Are the sentences in Column B correct? If not, rewrite them correctly in Column C:

Column A	Column B	Column C
Mayuri said to Manas, “Do you know what Nasa is?”	Mayuri said to Manas that does he know what NASA is?	Mayuri asked Manas whether he knew about NASA.
Manas said, “Our country will always remember her.”	Manas said that “our country would always remember her.”	Manas said that their country would always remember her.

5. Now fill in the blanks with suitable forms of verbs:

(i) Mayuri ______ Manas on her way to school. (s form of meet)

Ans: Mayuri meets Manas on her way to school.
(ii) I'm sure she ______ flying in space. (past form of love)

Ans:  I'm sure she loved flying in space.
(iii) It has ______ to the sky. (past participle of fly)
Ans: It has flown to the sky.

6. Here are some interesting facts about famous astronauts who were women.

Now collect a picture of an astronaut and paste it in your notebook. Write a few sentences about him or her just below the picture.

Answer: Students do yourself.

7. Let's practise speaking in English. Using the phrase 'Have you heard', ask your partner a few questions about space. One is done for you. (You can take help from your text.)

Have you heard that Kalpana-I was the first satellite built to study weather conditions.

Yes, I have

⊕ Have you ever heard about Rakesh Sarmah?
- Yes, he is the first Indian astronaut to travel in space.

⊕ Have you ever heard about 'International Space Station'?
- Yes, I have. It is a space station in low Earth orbit. This programme is a joint project between five participating space agencies.

8. The box has certain words used to ask questions. Find and write them in the space given.

A	W	H	E	R	E
W	H	O	W	E	R
H	E	W	H	A	O
A	N	H	Y	R	T
T	O	A	E	H	W

Ans: Where, Who, What, When, How, Why,

9. Fun with words:

   Do you know what is interesting about these words?

    If you remove the first letter from each of the given words, you will find a new word. Write the new words in the space crafts under each word:

Ans: Flight ー light

        Send ー end

        Space ー pace

        Craft ー raft

        Know ー now

        There ー here

Now think of three more words like the above, and write them below:

Bright ー right;  Learn ー earn;  Many ー any
Want ー ant;     Grow ー row;    Hill ー ill

10. See how many new words you can form with the letters used in the word ’because’ below. One is done for you.

Because:  be, cause, use, base, cub, cab, bee, sea, see

11. Manas wants to be an astronaut when he grows up. Mayuri wants to be a scientist.

Sit in pairs and tell each other what you want to be when you grow up and why.

Answer:

Jeena:  I want to be a doctor and I want to serve poor people.

Abhi:   I want to be a policeman so that I can make our society safe from the anti social forces.

Shiva:  I want to be a teacher so that I can make a better educated society.

Women in Space | English Class 7 | SCERT, Assam | Lesson 8, Download as pdf. Stay tuned me on facebook to get more updates. SUBSCRIBE HERE