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Year 5 - English

Exploring the story 'Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover'

'Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover': reading

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils read and explore the narrative non-fiction text, 'Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover'. They explore the context of Mars and the rover mission and answer a range of comprehension questions. Finally, pupils identify and engage with the key themes in the text.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to discuss and explore the narrative of 'Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover'.

Key Notes

  • 'Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover' is a non-fiction narrative text.
  • It contains some, but not all of the features readers might expect from a non-fiction text.
  • When creating the Curiosity rover, the scientists and team at NASA had to plan for lots of different eventualities.
  • The Curiosity rover had to conduct its own experiments; it needed all the equipment it required to be sent with it.
  • To be successful, the team tested for many years, until the rover was ready to launch on the 26th November 2011.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • non-fiction: a genre of text which presents real events, information, or knowledge.
  • features: distinctive characteristics that belong to a text type
  • impression: initial feelings about a person, place or thing, gained from reading a text

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Pupils may think that every mission succeeds in its aims due to the time, money and investment from scientists.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.

'Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover' is a non-fiction narrative text. It contains some, but not all of the features readers might expect from a non-fiction text.

2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'non-fiction'

a genre of text which presents real events, information, or knowledge.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: Pupils may think that every mission succeeds in its aims due to the time, money and investment from scientists. Correction: Draw reader's attention to the amount of time the team took to test the rover and the several failed attempts. Adults could link these processes to the processes the pupils complete in science (e.g. fair testing, hypothesising).

More Lessons In This Unit

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