One Giant Leap by Naomi Arnold is an engaging and informative non-fiction text that explores the history and future of moon exploration. Beginning with the historic Apollo 11 landing, the article introduces readers to the achievements, discoveries, and challenges of lunar missions before exploring why scientists want to return. Through photographs, captions, clear explanations, and an overview of the Artemis programme, students learn about astronauts’ experiences, the information gathered from moon samples, and plans for establishing a lunar base.

By connecting past achievements with future possibilities, the text supports students to develop curiosity about space and consider how exploration extends scientific understanding. It encourages learners to think critically about the risks, costs, and potential benefits of lunar missions, while introducing the possible contribution of technology from Aotearoa New Zealand. This makes it a rich text for integrated literacy, science, and technology learning.

 

This pack contains wide range of response activities including:

• A guided reading plan exploring key literacy elements including inference and deduction, language use, making connection and text organisation, along with key questioning to promote emotional intelligence, metacognition and compassionate inquiry. 
• An independent learning contract complete with explainer videos for activity clarity
  
• A wide range of response activities to support developing and embedding key literacy skills including sentence and word work, spelling, and cloze activities. 

Curriculum Phase: Phase 2

Year Level: Year 4

English: reading for meaning, locating and synthesising information, sequencing events, making inferences, identifying key ideas and supporting detail, understanding headings and captions, interpreting photographs, and supporting responses with evidence from the text

Science – Planet Earth and Beyond: the moon and its surface, the solar system, lunar exploration, gravity, and similarities and differences between conditions on Earth and the moon

Science – Nature of Science: scientific curiosity, collecting and examining samples, using evidence to develop understanding, investigating unanswered questions, and considering the challenges of space exploration

Technology: spacecraft and lunar rovers, technologies that support exploration, solar power, planning for a lunar base, and Aotearoa New Zealand’s potential contribution to future missions

Text type: Non-fiction, informational article, historical overview, scientific explanation

Key words include: Apollo, Artemis, astronauts, Buzz Aldrin, discoveries, exploration, gravity, lunar base, lunar rovers, moon, moon landing, NASA, Neil Armstrong, Rocket Lab, scientific evidence, solar power, solar system, space, spacecraft, space race, technology