A CHILDREN’S OPERA BY TIM YEALLAND & RUSSELL HEPPLEWHITE

THE SPACEDOG

Age7 – 11

TEACHER'S PACK2019 edition

Laika the Spacedog was commissioned in 2013 as English Touring Opera’s flagship opera for children aged 7–11. The show toured to 40 schools, libraries and small venues in the UK, and won multiple awards, including best opera at the Armel Opera Festival in Hungary, and the PRS David Bedford Music Education award.

The opera tells the irresistible story of the first animal to go into orbit. The fact that the animal was a mongrel stray found in Gorky Park in Moscow, and that she was a victim of the politics inherent in the space race in the 1950s, makes the story both tragic and fascinating. Despite the fact that the dog itself cannot sing (and we don’t make her in any way human) she was surrounded by people who make great characters for an opera.

This strand of ETO’s work is intended very much to stimulate the learning of the young people we work with, and to engage with them on many different levels. We see these pieces as real opportunities to partner with schools, and to encourage an expansive view of the interest of both the arts and in this case science. So, Laika the Spacedog is fully interactive and tells the story in many different and engaging ways, with design, dance, filmed animation and puppetry as well as singing and acting.

This pack is accompanied by video and audio files to aid learning of the participatory songs for pupils, a storyboard that tells the story of the opera, and some ideas for activities to do in the classroom. The pack is intended to provide a complete background to the opera and its contents. It is not intended to be a complete KS2 science resource, though the science within the opera is included here.

The piece itself lasts just over an hour, and supports various areas of the curriculum, including literacy, history, maths and science, art and design, as well as drama and music.

The pack is covered by copyright and all rights are reserved. Further copies can be downloaded from ETO’s website.

Teacher’s Pack written and compiled by Bradley Travis, Tim Yealland and Talia Lash, with special thanks to Dan Hawkins, Head of Childs Hill Primary School, for his invaluable advice on the scientific contents of Laika the Spacedog

This production was made possible thanks to the generous support of:

Laika the Spacedog creative team:

Composer Russell Hepplewhite Writer/Director Tim Yealland Designer Jude Munden Animator Babis Alexiadis

© 3rd Floor, 50 Britton Street London EC1M 5UP Tel: 020 7833 2555 www.englishtouringopera.org.uk

Behrens Foundation

Teale Charitable Trust

In preparation for the performance of Laika the Spacedog we would be very grateful if you could be familiar with these three songs:

Baikonour, The Thing about Science and the planets Mnemonic

The words and music are at the back of this pack. There are also learning videos and audio files. Lyrics, sheet music, audio and video files can be downloaded for free on ETO’s website.

Contents

ETO Education 4 The story of the opera 5 The characters in the opera (real and fictitious) 6 The USSR and the space race 7 Laika and the Soviet space dogs 9 Sputnik 1 11 Sputnik 2 12 Key characters from history in Laika the Spacedog 13 The science in the opera 14 Animation in Laika the Spacedog 16 The Laika puppets 17 The theremin 18 Recommended reading 19

Interactive resources: Classroom activity ideas 20 Storyboard 25

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Worksheets Song words Using the Learning VideosSheet music

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ETO Education

English Touring Opera takes productions to venues across the UK, from Perth in Scotland to Truro in the South West of England. In addition, the company has a busy and vigorous community programme, engaging with 10,000 young people and adults every year. Our work ranges from in-school workshops, to newly commissioned operas and large-scale community operas. We work in primary schools, secondary schools, special schools, colleges and also with adults in different contexts. Choirs and young people take part regularly in our touring productions. We have created many Key Stage 2 operas to date, all of which are interactive and include songs for children to join in with: Crossing the Styx (based on the Orpheus myth), Voithia (based on Icarus and the Minotaur), In the Belly of the Horse (based on the myths leading to the building of the Trojan horse), Shackleton’s Cat (based on Shackleton’s Antarctic voyage), and most recently Paradise Planet (an opera about climate change).

Images from Shackleton’s Cat (2015) and Paradise Planet (2019)

For younger children we have toured pieces that introduce the instruments of the orchestra, as well as classical singing and opera, including Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Starry Welkin, The Feathered Ogre and Borka: the goose with no feathers. Alongside this our special school projects include Midnight Moon, RedBlueGreen, Spin, Rumbled, Waxwings and This is My Bed.

Images from Waxwings (2015) and This is My Bed (2018)

ETO regularly works in partnership with every kind of school, producing new work with students of every age and ability.

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Designs for Laika the Spacedog on this page by Jude Munden

The story of the opera Laika the Spacedog begins in the Moscow apartment of Sofiya and Nikolai. They have a son, Mikhael, a brilliant student who has dreams of joining the space project in Baikonour, Kazakhstan. But his father despises science and thinks his son is useless. He also hates their little dog and insists they get rid of it. Sofiya takes the dog to Gorky Park, thinking that she will pick it up in a day or two when things have calmed down. A letter arrives for Mikhael informing him that he has been accepted as a new recruit to the rocket programme in Baikonur. When he arrives he meets the formidable Korolev, the mastermind of the space programme. He is just in time to see the launch of Sputnik 1, with the first satellite on board. Sputnik becomes headline news around the world, to the dismay of the Americans.

The Russian leader Khrushchev calls Korolev to the Kremlin and insists that the space programme capitalise on the success of Sputnik 1 by sending an animal into orbit within a month. He reminds him that failure might result in Korolev returning to a prison camp. The hunt is on for the right animal, and Laika is discovered by Valentina in Gorky Park. The business of

training her for the next launch begins, and the dog-hating scientist and dog-catcher Valentina relishes her role. The much more sympathetic Yelena tries to take Laika home for an evening of play and freedom, but is stopped by Valentina. Just as Laika is put into her space-suit for the final countdown Mikhael notices a spot on Laika’s chin, and realises it is the same dog as the one in his parents’ apartment.

As soon as this discovery is made he also finds out that Korolev has not worked out how to get Laika back alive. But will she really die in space? The opera ends with an extraordinary encounter on the moon.

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The main characters in the opera (real and fictitious)

Laika Mongrel – discovered in Gorky Park (real) Mikhael The science-mad student (fictitious) Sofiya Mikhael’s mother and the first owner of Laika (fictitious) Nikolai Mikhael’s father, who hates dogs and science (fictitious) Korolev The mastermind of the Russian space programme (real) Khrushchev The Russian Premier (real) Yelena Scientist (fictitious) Valentina Scientist and dog-catcher (fictitious)

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KS2 CURRICULUM LINK: P189: History: “Pupils should continue to develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history, establishing clear narratives within and across the periods they study.”

The USSR and the Space Race

Russia, or the former USSR, was recovering from two horrors in the mid-1950s. One was the Second World War, and the other was Joseph Stalin, the leader who for many decades had constructed a society in which nobody was free from persecution. Millions of Russians had perished in the gulags or prison camps, often for crimes without substance. And yet the wealth and power of the country was such that it could also build up a formidable nuclear armoury to counter what it perceived to be a threat from the USA and the West. The nuclear programme was made possible partly by the theft of secrets from the defeated Germany in 1945, and by the capture of German scientists. Both the USA and the USSR shared information about rockets that had been developed by the Germans in the war, and when in 1957 Sputnik 1 was launched, the space race was well underway. The two countries spent vast fortunes on the arms race and the space race. The object was to establish supremacy on every front: the first hydrogen bomb, the first satellite, the first animal in space, the first man in space, and finally – the ultimate prize – the first man on the moon. We forget that in the late 50s, and up to the very first orbit of Yuri Gagarin (right), the Russians won almost every new challenge. Their rockets – the Sputniks and the Soyuz rockets – were more stable and reliable, and they took more risks than the Americans. They also possessed the indefatigable and brilliant space pioneer Sergei Korolev, himself a survivor of the gulags. The Americans were honest enough to accept these defeats, though they could not have come at a worse time, as anti-communist (reds under the beds) feeling in the USA was at its height.

Moscow, 1950s

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In the search for success there were decisions made at this time that we would now think of as repulsive. Animals in both space programmes were sacrificed freely, including American monkeys (left). Laika of course became the space race’s most famous victim, but she was only one in a long line of animals who were effectively tortured to death. (Attitudes generally to the testing of animals in laboratory conditions have changed drastically in the last 50 years. The phrase ‘in the interests of science’ is rarely used as an excuse these days).

Once the Americans had caught up with the Russians there was no stopping them. Enormous sums were poured into NASA. When John F Kennedy announced that there would be a man on the moon within 10 years the US was spending about 10% of its GDP on these projects – an astonishing figure. But the Apollo programme led to huge dividends, and reflected the confidence of the US as the world’s number one superpower. In 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon with the words: £One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” But he might have said one giant leap for America. By then the Russians had been left far behind, and with the break up of the USSR in the early 1990s the formal space programme came to an end. It is only now, with the slow dismantlement of NASA’s programme, and the end of the Space Shuttle programme, that Russia is again a dominant force, regularly sending both astronauts and satellites into space. Now the space race is over the future looks uncertain. We are still taking major steps forward – there is currently a robot vehicle on Mars (Curiosity, right) sending back fascinating data, and longer term a human trip to Mars is still a goal. But the demands on resources in a world rocked by conflict, inequality and global warming make major manned space missions increasingly more problematic. That said human ingenuity, and the emergence of new space programmes in Europe, China and India, mean that there will be new initiatives ahead. The major shift has been from glamorous and expensive rocket launches to the biology and physics, and what can be discovered through things like particle acceleration in CERN (the discovery of the ‘god’ particle), and the deconstructing of the human genome, with its untold health benefits for the human race.

Photo from the moon taken on the first Apollo 11 mission

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Laika and the Soviet space dogs

Laika was found as a stray mongrel wandering the streets of Moscow (in our opera she is found in Gorky Park). One of the reasons why Soviet scientists chose to use Moscow strays rather than pedigree dogs was that they assumed the animals had already learned to endure conditions of extreme cold and hunger.

Laika was about three years old and she weighed about 6 kg (13 lb). She was given several names and nicknames, including Kudryavka (Russian for Little Curly), Zhuchka (Little Bug) and Limonchik (Little Lemon). Laika, the Russian name for several breeds of dogs similar to the husky, was the name popularized around the world. It is also similar to the Russian word meaning ‘barker’.

The dog was probably a mix of husky and terrier, and one of the reasons she was chosen over the other dogs in the space programme was that she was remarkably cooperative and friendly.

Before Sputnik 2 (the rocket which carried Laika into space) the USSR and the USA had sent animals only on sub-orbital flights.

The first Soviet dogs, named Dezik and Tsygan, were launched on 22 June 1951. From 1954 to 1956 rockets carried pairs of dogs wearing pressure suits with plexiglass bubble helmets. The dogs were ejected from the rocket, one at 75-90 km altitude and the other at 35 km, to test different landing systems.

Video image of Belka in Sputnik 5 (left) – the 5th satellite mission. Belka survived along with other animals on the flight, including her companion Strelka.

Three dogs were trained for the Sputnik 2 flight: Albina, Mushka (below on the left), and Laika. Soviet scientist Oleg Gazenko selected and trained Laika. Albina flew twice on a high-altitude test rocket, and Mushka was used to test instrumentation and life support.

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The main challenge in training the dogs was to get them used to the confines of the tiny cabin of Sputnik 2. They were kept in progressively smaller cages for periods up to 20 days. The dogs were placed in centrifuges that simulated the acceleration of a rocket launch and were placed in machines that simulated the noises of the spacecraft. The dogs were trained to eat a special high-nutrition gel that would be their food in space.

Before the launch, one of the scientists took Laika home to play with his children. Dr Vladimir Yazdovsky wrote, “I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live.”

From 1957 (Sputnik 2) to 1960 many more dogs were launched into space after Laika. In all 29 flights, dogs were launched in pairs. The main problems included supplying the dogs with oxygen and food, addressing the effects of weightlessness and high acceleration and re-entry.

Belka and Strelka were the first dogs to survive spaceflight onboard Sputnik 5 in 1960. It also carried 40 mice, 2 rats and lots of plants. The spacecraft returned to earth and all animals were recovered safely. These rockets also contained experiments for measuring primary cosmic rays, the far-ultraviolet spectrum of the Sun, micrometeorites, and the composition and ionisation of the outer atmosphere.

Belka emerging alive from one of the later Sputnik missions

Laika in her space suit

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Sputnik 1 On 4 October 1957 the USSR successfully launched Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite. It was sent up on top of an R7 Sputnik rocket and released into orbit after it escaped the earth’s atmosphere.

• Size: 58 cm or 22.8 inches in diameter (about the size of a beach ball) • Orbital time: 98 minutes to orbit the Earth

• Weight: 83.6 kg or 183.9 pounds (the weight of a large man)

• Sputnik’s sphere was polished to a high sheen

• Despite Sputnik’s streamlined appearance, it tumbled while in orbit

• Sputnik contained two radio transmitters, which sent back the “beep-beep-beep” heard around the world, and also heard in our opera.

The Sputnik launch marked the start of the space age and the space race.

The real Sputnik (left), and Sputnik as it appears in Laika the Spacedog (right)

The story really began in 1952, when the International Council of Scientific Unions decided to establish the period from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 31 1958 as the International Geophysical Year (IGY), because the scientists knew that the cycles of solar activity would be at a high point then.

In October 1954, the council adopted a resolution calling for artificial satellites to be launched during the IGY to map the Earth's surface.

In July 1955, the US President announced plans to launch an Earth-orbiting satellite for the IGY and asked for proposals from various government research agencies to undertake development.

The Sputnik launch changed everything. As a technical achievement, Sputnik caught the world's attention and the American public off-guard. The Americans feared that the Soviets' ability to launch satellites could also translate into the capability to launch ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear weapons from Europe to the USA. Then the Soviets struck again; on 3 November, Sputnik 2 was launched, carrying its precious cargo – the dog named Laika.

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Sputnik 2

The second artificial Earth satellite was launched on 3 November 1957, at 2:30:42 GMT, with Laika on board.

In preparation for the flight, Laika was trained to sit in the cabin and get used to the noises and acceleration of launch and to the harness.

Four biometric readings were radioed to Earth: • Electrodes were implanted in Laika’s chest to measure

her heart rate. Heart-rate telemetry indicated that Laika was stressed by the launch and possibly surprised for a time by the transition to weightlessness

• A blood-pressure sleeve was surgically placed around the carotid artery in the neck

• Respiration rate was measured by gauges in a belt around her chest. Her respiration rate increased, reaching 4 times normal during the period of greatest acceleration, when pressure made it physically difficult to breathe. 5-10 minutes after the achievement of orbit, the dog calmed and her readings and activity returned to normal

• Temperature: The scientists were concerned from the start about the problem of heat, both from the Sun and from the dog's body. Although Laika's exact fate is unknown, ground simulations suggested that she died from overheating soon after the 3rd or 4th orbit.

The satellite completed 2570 orbits. It was observed re-entering the atmosphere over the West Indies on 14 April 1958.

Official news reports described the results from the early hours of the experiment. Subsequently, no details were announced except to suggest that Laika, who had become an instant celebrity, was fine. When the radio transmitter stopped on 10 November, officials began to acknowledge that Laika would die.

Laika's heart rate during flight

Sputnik 2 launch

The satellite containing the constraining seat for Laika

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Key characters from history in Laika the Spacedog Sergei Pavlovich Korolev Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (1907-1966) is widely regarded as the founder of the Soviet space programme. Involved in pre-World War II studies of rocketry in the USSR, Korolev, like many of his colleagues, was subjected to Stalin's prisons (on trumped-up charges) and later participated in the search for rocket technology in occupied Germany. His incredible energy, intelligence, belief in the prospects of rocket technology and almost mythical skills in decision-making made him the head of the first Soviet rocket development centre. He headed the space programme throughout the Sputnik and Soyuz era. Premier Khrushchev Stalin died in March 1953 and Khrushchev became leader of the party shortly afterwards, but it took him several years to consolidate his position. In February 1956, he made a secret speech to the 20th Party Congress, denouncing Stalin. It caused a sensation in the Communist Party and in the West. Khrushchev also attempted to improve living standards and allow greater freedom in cultural and intellectual life. He invested in the Soviet space programme, resulting in the 1957 flights of Sputniks 1 and 2, the first spacecrafts to orbit the earth. In his relations with the West, Khrushchev's period in office was marked by a series of crises – the shooting down of an American U2 spy-plane over the Soviet Union in 1960, the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and, most significantly, the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, which brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. In 1956, an uprising in Hungary against Communist rule was brutally suppressed. By 1964, Khrushchev had alienated much of the Soviet elite and was forced to retire by opponents led by Leonid Brezhnev. Khrushchev died on 11 September 1971 in Moscow.

Neil Armstrong Born in 1930, Armstrong was the unassuming astronaut who became the first man to step onto the moon. He had been part of NASA’s astronaut programme. From 1949 to 1952, Armstrong was a naval aviator. Upon leaving military service, he became a test pilot. His first space flight occurred in 1966 aboard Gemini 8. In July of 1969, Neil Armstrong was the commander of Apollo 11, America's first attempt to land a manned vehicle on the Moon. As Armstrong became the first person to touch the Moon's surface, he spoke the unforgettable phrase, "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind". He and fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin explored the Moon's surface for two and a half hours.

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The science in the opera Gravity and Upthrust Gravity is a force that pulls objects together. As the Earth is very big, it has a very strong gravitational force, pulling everything down towards it. That’s why we are stuck to the ground instead of floating around, and why your pencil drops to the floor when you let go of it.

To escape the force of gravity you need upthrust. And the more upthrust you apply, the more you escape the force of gravity.

↑

Gravity is a downward force

Gravity gives everything weight

Upthrust always pushes UP just like gravity always pulls down

The ultimate way to apply upthrust is to build a rocket. And to fill the rocket with rocket fuel. And point it in the right direction…up!

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KS2 CURRICULUM LINK: Science Aims P144: • Develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of

biology, chemistry and physics • Are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications

of science, today and for the future

Did you know that: • The sun is a star • The moon is a natural satellite • Jupiter has 63 confirmed moons • There is no sound in space • Space is a vacuum: But it does have

very small particles in it • Earth is just a tiny planet in our Solar

System • Our Solar System is just one member

of the vast Milky Way galaxy • The Milky Way has about 300 billion

stars • There are 100 to 200 billion galaxies in

the Universe

The Earth’s atmosphere The atmosphere is the thin layer of gases surrounding the Earth. Just as there are layers inside the Earth, there are also layers in the atmosphere. The layers of gases protect the Earth and life on Earth from the vacuum and radiation of space. The thickness of the atmosphere makes a balance between the gravity of the Earth and the energetic molecules that want to rise and move towards space. The molecules become excited as energy from the Sun hits the Earth. While the atmosphere is mainly composed of nitrogen (N2), it also contains gases such as oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) that plants and animals need to survive. It has specialized molecules like ozone (O3) that filter out harmful radiation from space. The atmosphere also protects us from the vacuum of space. Without the atmosphere, our world would be as barren and dead as the Moon or Mercury. What can you see in the night sky? Using either your naked eye, a telescope, or binoculars, can you see: Stars Constellations (groups of stars, like the plough) Shooting stars Meteorites The Planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune The Moon Satellites Other Galaxies The International Space Station (it can been seen with the naked eye)

The planets (Pluto was declassified as a planet in 2006)

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Animation in Laika the Spacedog There are two animated sequences in the opera, both created with pupils from Childs Hill Primary School in north London. Although the films are short, the process was a long one, with the children creating the images frame by frame. To make a single second of animation we needed to create 25 stills per second. But some of these stills (for instance to create a moving image of the dog running) were used more than once. The technique of stop-motion is now very well-known. It needs artwork (2D or 3D), a digital camera, and software to put it all together in the right order. For us the process was really good fun, and the children got involved very creatively in different ways (see below). There is a lot of information online about how to make stop-motion animated films. Here are just two good websites: http://content.photojojo.com/tutorials/stop-motion-digital-camera/ http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Stop-Motion-Animation

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The Laika puppets The puppets in Laika the Spacedog are a key part of the design, and are made by a designer called Jude Munden. There are many different types of puppet that are used in theatre, and Laika is portrayed by two puppets which look identical. One is a marionette, the most famous type of western puppet, operated by strings that animate the limbs. However much of the time we need to put Laika into spacesuits, centrifuges and so on, and to sit her on a table. So for this we have also made a table-top puppet. The puppeteer has much more control over this puppet, but also less distance, so in some ways he/she needs more skill to maintain the sense that the puppet is alive independently of the puppeteer. The Laika puppets are made of wood. We decided against using fur for many reasons. But some of the most effective puppets are made traditionally from the simplest ingredients. The following pictures show the progress of the puppets from prototype to carving to painting and costume:

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Leon Theremin playing his instrument

The theremin

The theremin (a musical instrument which features in Laika the Spacedog) was invented in 1919 by a Russian physicist named Lev Termen (in the United States his name was Leon Theremin). The theremin is unique in that it is played without being touched. Two antennas protrude from the theremin – one controlling pitch, and the other controlling volume. As a hand approaches the vertical antenna, the pitch gets higher. Approaching the horizontal antenna makes the volume softer. Because there is no physical contact with the instrument, playing the theremin in a precise melodic way requires a huge amount of skill and keen attention to pitch.

In the early 1920s Leon Theremin came to the United States to promote his invention. He was given a studio to work in, and he trained several musicians to help popularise the theremin. Then in 1938 he was taken back to the Soviet Union by force, leaving behind his studio, friends, business, and his wife. After enduring a stay in a prison camp, Leon Theremin reportedly worked for the KGB designing, among other things, listening bugs for spying operations.

The theremin in music and film

Several big band conductors have featured the theremin in numerous albums. During the 60's and 70's, bands such as Lothar and the Hand People, the Bonzo Doo Dah Dog Band, and Led Zeppelin brought the theremin into the public eye for a short time. (Incidentally, a theremin was not played in the song "Good Vibrations", but the instrument used was based on it.) Then, the theremin slipped back into obscurity until the recent revival of the 1990s. Today, lots of bands use theremins, though many unfortunately limit themselves to using it as a novelty.

The spooky sound of the theremin was used in several movie soundtracks during the 1950s and 1960s. It provided background mood music for such sci-fi classics as The Day the Earth Stood Still, where it played a serious musical role, and It Came From Outer Space, as well in thriller soundtracks such as Spellbound and The Lost Weekend.

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Recommended reading Laika (cartoon novel) Nick Abadzis (Macmillan) Laika – Astronaut Dog Owen Davey (Templar) http://www.spacekids.co.uk/learn/ Website with lots of information and resources about space http://englishtouringopera.org.uk/productions/laika-the-spacedog-2016 ETO’s webpage about Laika, with downloadable audio, video and song words

Answers to The dog and human body worksheet on page 29 1. What is a dog's normal body temperature? 38°C to 39.2°C (100°F to 102.5°F) 2. What is a human's normal body temperature? 37.0 °C (98.6 °F) 3. How many breaths does a dog take per minute, on average? 10-34 breaths per minute, unless panting A dog pants as a way of lowering its temperature 4. How many times does a human breathe per minute, on average? 9-14 breaths per minute Humans sweat to lower their temperature 5. How many times does a dog’s heart beat per minute, on average? 60–100 times for large breeds, 100–140 for small breeds 6. How many times does a human’s heart beat per minute, on average? 60-80 times per minute 7. How many years does a dog live, on average? Between 10 and 20 years, depending on the breed There are huge differences in lifespan between the different breeds. A husky-mongrel cross like Laika could expect to reach 15 or 16 years. Laika was probably about 3 when she died 8. How many years does a human live on average in the UK? 79 years for a man, and 81 years for a woman Lifespan is varies widely from one country to another: You are likely to live longest in Japan and shortest in Sierra Leone

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Classroom activity ideas A dog’s diary Stimulus Laika was a stray mongrel found in

Moscow, who was taken in by scientists and prepared over several months for a mission into space. She was launched into space on 3 November 1957 in the Sputnik 2 rocket. She died within hours of the launch of overheating.

Tasks Imagine you are Laika. Write a diary of your life, from wandering the streets of Moscow, to the months of preparation, to the actual rocket launch.

Curriculum links

Surviving in space Stimulus To prepare Laika for her trip to space, she was housed in smaller and smaller

kennels, to get her used to the cramped conditions on the rocket, and she was put in a centrifugal device to get her used to the pressure she’d experience.

Tasks How would Laika’s habitat in space differ from her natural habitat on earth? What might be dangerous about it? Imagine you are an astronaut, preparing for a journey to space. In pairs, write a list of what conditions might be like in a space rocket, and how you would prepare for these before your trip. You could consider: gravity, food, exercise, loneliness, boredom, sleep

Curriculum links

ENGLISH: WRITING – COMPOSITION, HANDWRITING

ENGLISH: WRITING – COMPOSITION, HANDWRITING SCIENCE: LIVING THINGS AND THEIR HABITATS

Space Poems Stimulus Space has inspired the creation of a lot of music, visual art, films, books and TV

shows. For example composer Gustav Holst, musician David Bowie, filmmaker Stanley Kubrick and writer Kurt Vonnegut have all created art inspired by space.

Tasks Think about space as an inspiration for your own creative writing. Use the most expressive language you can in these poem exercises.

• Write a poem by answering these questions: If space was a colour, what would it be? If space was a taste, what would it be? If space was a sound, what would it be? Think of further questions. You could consider: smells, texture, action words, animals, environments, people, feelings

• Acrostic poems This is a short example which spells the name LAIKA

Let the name of Laika blaze Across the sky in the black black night Inspire the world with her story Keep alive her canine glory And sing of her fabulous flight

Curriculum links

Mnemonics Stimulus Can you name the planets in our solar system? In Laika the Spacedog, we sing

a song which uses the first letter from each planet to create a phrase that’s easy to remember. This is called a mnemonic: Moscow’s Very Expensive Metro Just Seems Useless Now = Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune (Pluto was declassified in 2006)

Tasks Create a new mnemonic to help remember the names of the planets. Share these with your classmates, write them up and decorate them, display in the classroom. What other mnemonics do you know?

Curriculum links

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ENGLISH: WRITING – COMPOSITION, HANDWRITING SCIENCE: EARTH AND SPACE

ENGLISH: WRITING – COMPOSITION, HANDWRITING SCIENCE: EARTH AND SPACE

Space Music Stimulus In Laika the spacedog we use a Theremin (p18) to make some ‘space-like’

sounds. Composers have been interested in making space music for many years.

Tasks Create some ‘space music’. Use an image such as the one here to inspire some ‘space music’ composition. Other images could be aliens, rockets etc. Suggested listening: Holst’s The Planets, Ligeti’s Requiem Evaluate: What makes the music ‘space-like’? Musical techniques: Drones Chords Ostinati (bass line) Use of voice

Curriculum links

Come fly with me Stimulus Space rockets are designed to be aerodynamic so they are energy efficient and

can fly easily through space.

Tasks Make a rocket or plane out of paper or other materials. See how far it can fly when you throw it. Measure the distance and record in a table. Can you change the design to make it fly further? Have a class competition to see which rocket will fly the furthest.

Curriculum links

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MUSIC: COMPOSITION, MANIPULATING IDEAS, ‘SING AND PLAY’

MATHS: MEASURING DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY: DESGIN, MAKE, EVALUATE

Is it justified? Stimulus In 1998, one of the Soviet scientists responsible

for Laika’s training, Oleg Gazenko, said: “Work with animals is a source of suffering to all of us. We treat them like babies who cannot speak. The more time passes, the more I’m sorry about it. We did not learn enough from the mission to justify the death of the dog.” While the launch of Laika paved the way for

humans to explore space, she died during the mission.

Tasks Discussion. Is it acceptable to use animals to test unknown places or substances (like medicines) if it could help humans? Are there cases where it is acceptable and some where it isn’t, or is it just a yes or no answer? Why do you think the way you do about this question?

Curriculum links

Our planet Stimulus Thanks to Laika and other developments in

space exploration and technology, we are now able to launch satellites into space which orbit the earth and can be used for various things, including TV and radio broadcasting, GPS (Global Positioning Systems), predicting the weather and mapping and photographing our planet.

Tasks Using Google Earth, explore the earth (N.B: this may require downloading Google Earth, which is free).

• Zoom in to find the following, and write the names of the places you choose: a desert, a forest, a really big city, a beach, an icy place, a lake, a tiny island in the middle of a big sea, a mountainous area. Did anyone choose the same places?

• Imagine you are an alien in a spaceship looking at the earth for the first time. How would you describe it? Write a report to send back to your planet

Curriculum links

23

ENGLISH: SPOKEN LANGUAGE PSHE: RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

ENGLISH: WRITING – COMPOSITION GEOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Drop it Stimulus As we find out in our opera, gravity is the pull from the earth that makes

objects want to stick to it, so they fall to the ground. But do all things fall at the same speed?

Tasks Experiment. Gather together a range of objects made of different materials and of different weights (e.g. a coin, a plastic bag, a pencil case). Weigh each one and record in a table. Predict which object will drop fastest, and which slowest. Then, in pairs and using a stopwatch, time how long each object takes to fall to the ground from a certain point (perhaps dropped from standing on a chair or step with arms fully extended up). Record results in a table. Were your predictions correct? What conclusions can you draw from this experiment?

Curriculum links

Reuse, reduce, recycle Stimulus Resources we need to survive in space are very scarce, and all have to come

from Earth. Therefore it’s really important to save and recycle as much as possible. For example, on the International Space Station, water is gathered from the air (from water released by people breathing, called condensate) and even from urine! It is specially filtered so it’s safe to drink.

Tasks Why is it important to recycle on Earth? What things do you recycle? Make a poster to promote recycling for the other children in your school. What can we all do to reduce waste?

Curriculum links

24

GEOGRAPHY: ENVIRONMENT

SCIENCE: FORCES, MEASUREMENT, WORKING SCIENTIFICALLY

The dog and the human body

Can you guess the answers to the questions below? Look online to find the real answers.

(Answers are also on page 19 of this booklet)

What differences can you think of between dogs and humans?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

What similarities can you think of?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

1. What is a dog's normal body

temperature?

2. What is a human's normal body

temperature?

3. How many breaths does a dog take

per minute, on average?

4. How many times does a human

breathe per minute, on average?

5. How many times does a dog’s heart

beat per minute, on average?

6. How many times does a human’s

heart beat per minute, on average?

7. How many years does a dog live, on

average?

8. How many years does a human

live on average in the UK?

29

Laika the Spacedog – Songs

The thing about science

The thing about science is this It can open your eyes in surprise At the mysteries under your nose (Why did it all begin) Why did it all begin (Where did we all come from?) Where did we all come from? (How big was the bang) How big was the bang (From which it all sprang) From which it all sprang What makes the smell of a rose?

The thing about science is this: It can fill your brain with wonder At the mysteries under your skin: (What makes your blood red) What makes your blood red (And why does your heart go boom?) And why does your heart go boom? (Can you try and count) Can you try and count (Such an amazing amount) Such an amazing amount Of atoms on the head of a pin?

The thing about science is this: It can open your ears with amazement At the mysteries outside your head: (How loud is the grate) How loud is the grate (That a grasshopper makes?) That a grasshopper makes? (What makes the rain splash) What makes the rain splash Or the thunder crash What can you hear from your bed?

Baikonour

Baikonour Baikonour The engines roar at Baikonour! The engines roar at Baikonour!

Can you hear the sputnik’s drone As it’s launched from the Cosmodrome?

The rocket breaks the cloud Its boosters roaring loud It floats on the edge of space

Baikonour Baikonour The engines roar at Baikonour!

Mnemonic – planets

Moscow’s Very Expensive Metro Just Seems Useless Now (x2)

(Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars

(Jupiter, Saturn) Jupiter, Saturn

(Uranus, Neptune) Uranus, Neptune

(x2)

Moscow’s Very Expensive Metro Just Seems Useless Now (x2)

30

Using the Laika the Spacedog Learning Videos

The videos available to you are designed to help the children learn the participatory songs from Laika the Spacedog. You can find them in the dropbox folder sent to you by email or on the ETO website.

These can either be played in full to your class, played in sections (time markers below) and then worked on in class, or indeed we invite you to watch the videos yourself and make your own choices on how best to teach the songs.

We hope they will be of use!

Useful bookmarks on the videos

Baikonour time

Introduction 0.00

Words & Rhythm 0.18

Melody 2.21

Actions 4.49

Full Song 6.22

Mnemonic time

Introduction 0.00

Words & Rhythm 0.52

Melody 1.32

Full Song 2.24

Science Song time

Introduction 0.00

Verse 1 Words & Rhythm 0.15

Verse 1 Melody 1.39

Verse 1 Actions 3.03

Verse 1 Full 3.30

Verse 2 Words & Rhythm 4.22

Verse 2 Actions 5.30

Verse 2 Full 6.01

Verse 3 Words & Rhythm 6.39

Verse 3 Actions 7.47

Verse 3 Full 8.16

31

Lyrics by

Tim Yealland

With drive

Baikonour Music by

Russell Hepplewhite

Children

Piano

Bai ko- nour

- Bai ko- nour

- The en

gines

- roar

3

3

8

Children

Piano

at Bai

ko nour

-

The en

gines

- roar

3

at Bai

ko nour

-

Can you

3

15

Children

Piano

hear the sput

nik's- drone?

As it's launched

from the Cos

mo

- drome

3

-

The

3

21

Children

Piano

ro cket-

breaks

the cloud

it's boost

ers-

roar

ing- loud

It floats

on the edge

of

3

3

26

Children

Piano

space

Bai ko- nour

- Bai ko- nour

- The en

gines

- roar

3

at Bai

ko nour

-

3

Crisp and clear

Lyrics by

Tim Yealland

Musicc by

Russell HepplewhiteMnemonic

Piano

3

Children

Piano

Mos cow's- ve

ry- ex pen-

sive- Me

- tro just seems use

less- now

5

Children

Piano

7

Children

Piano

9

Children

Piano

Mer

Call to children

cu- ry- Ve

nus- Earth

and Mars

Children respond

Mer cu- ry- Ve

nus- Earth

and Mars

11

Children

Piano

Ju

Call to children

pi- ter- Sa

- turn

Children respond

Ju pi- ter- Sa

- turn

Ur

Call to children

a- nus- Nep

tune Ur

Children respond

a- nus- Nep

tune

13

Children

Piano

Mos cow's- ve

ry- ex pen

sive- Me

- tro just seems use

less- now

2

Lyrics by

Tim Yealland

Rhythmic

Music by

Russell Hepplewhite

The thing about science

Piano

3

Children

Pno.

The thing a bout

- sci ence- is this

It can o

pen- your eyes

in sur prise

- at the

5

Children

Pno.

my st- eries- un

der- your nose

Why

Call to the children Children respond

did it all

be gin?- Why

did it all

be gin?-

8

Children

Pno.

Where

Call to the children Children respond

did we all

come from? Where

did we all

come from? How

Call to the children Children respond

big

was

the bang? How

big

was

the bang?

10

Children

Pno.

From

Call to the children Children respond

which

it

all sprang From

which

it

all sprang

what makes

the smell

of a

12

Children

Pno.

rose?

14

Children

Pno.

The thing a bout

- sci ence- is this

It can fill

your brain

with won der

- at the

16

Children

Pno.

my st eries- un

der- your skin

What

Call to the children Children respond

makes

your

blood red? What

makes

your

blood red?

19

Children

Pno.

Why

Call to the children Children respond

does your heart

go boom? Why

does your heart

go boom? Can

Call to the children Children respond

you

try

and count? Can

you

try

and count?

21

Children

Pno.

Such

Call to the children Children respond

an a maz- ing

- a mount- Such

an a maz- ing

- a mount-

of a

toms- on the head

of a

2

23

Children

Pno.

pin

The thing a bout

- sci ence- is this

It can

26

Children

Pno.

o pen- your ears

with a maze

- ment

- at the my

ste- ries- out

side- your head

29

Children

Pno.

How

Call to the children Children respond

loud

is

the grate? How

loud

is

the grate? That

Call to the children Children respond

a grass ho

pper- makes That

a grass ho

pper- makes

Call to the children Children respond

Call to the children Children respond

31

Children

Pno.

What makes

the

rain splash? What

makes

the

rain splash? Or

the

thun

der- crash? Or

the

thun

der- crash?

33

Children

Pno.

what can

you hear

from your

bed?

3