Lesson 1: Your Study Space
For the successful completion of your space mission, the space lab is set up so that all tasks can be performed quickly and easily.
YOUR MISSION: to set up your study space for optimum learning.
To accomplish your mission, you will complete these objectives:
Select an appropriate study space, free from the visual distractions of television and family activities.
Organize lesson materials for easy access.
Select study aids that make organizing and using lesson materials easier.
Here are the skills you are expected to use to accomplish the lesson objectives:
STUDY SPACE SELECTION
Your space should meet these requirements:
- Away from family activities
- Away from TV
- Available during the study hours you select
- Has a table or desk
- Has a straight-back chair (comfortable but not too comfortable)
- Has good light
STUDY EQUIPMENT ESSENTIALS
These supplies should be available in your study space:
- Three-ring notebook with a divider for each subject with three smaller dividers for each subject labeled notes, handouts, homework (see the illustration in the Space Lab section of this lesson), and a zippered pouch insert to hold pencils, a calculator, etc.
- Ruled notebook paper
- Hole punch
- Small spiral notebook (about 4" x 6") for writing assignments
- Large monthly calendar with writing space on each date
- Reference materials (including a dictionary and thesaurus)
- Ruler, sharpened pencils (some students like mechanical pencils—extra lead if you are using one), pens, colored pencils (red, yellow, green), highlighter, and correction fluid
- 3" x 5" index cards
- File box that holds letter-size file folders
- Kitchen timer or clock with an alarm setting
ELIMINATE DISTRACTIONS
The most important thing you can do to increase study effectiveness is eliminate visual distractions. Although the ear can tune out many noise distractions (your parents will agree with this), the eye cannot. That is why the first two Blast Off! steps are to eliminate the movement of people and TV in your eye “space.”
TRY THIS EXPERIMENT
Here is an interesting experiment you can try with the help of your parent(s).
Select two newspaper stories from the front page of the newspaper, each about eight inches in length. Ask your parent to prepare three questions about each story for you to answer.
For the first part of the experiment, place your chair so you can see the TV screen. Turn on a favorite show (sitcoms or cartoons are good for this experiment). Ask your parent to record the time it takes for you to read the newspaper story and answer the questions while you have the TV turned on and facing you.
For the second part of the experiment, turn off the TV. Read the second newspaper story and answer the questions on that story. Have your parent record your time again.
Check the answers to both sets of questions for correctness and compare the time it took to read both stories and answer the questions (accuracy of your answers counts, too).
One hour later, see how much of each story you can recall for your parent.
Most students find a big difference in time and accuracy and especially in how much information they are able to remember.
MUSIC TO LEARN BY
Whether or not to listen to music while studying is a difficult question to answer. Some research has found that listening to classical music by composers like Mozart increases the ability to concentrate. For example, research has found that listening to classical music while studying math is beneficial. Dr. Howard Gardner, in his theory of multiple intelligences, indicates that mathematical and musical intelligence are closely related, which may explain why listening to classical music while studying math works. Other kinds of music, like most popular music, have the opposite effect, and decrease your attention span.
If you want to try listening to classical music to see if it helps your concentration ability, try Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major or Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major. Other selections by Mozart are also good. There are some CDs on the market that have combined several selections by Mozart under names such as The Mozart Effect. Just be sure to select CDs or tapes on which there is no singing (words or lyrics) because your brain will focus on the words of the music rather than on the material you are studying.
USING YOUR STUDY SUPPLIES
You may already use most of the study supplies and equipment; however, you may not have used them in these ways.
Divide the three-ring notebook so that each subject has its own section and each subject is divided into three areas—notes taken, teacher handouts, and completed homework. Each subject should have a different color for the divider tabs (for example: red for math, green for science, etc.). Using different colors for each subject makes materials easy to see. Organizing each subject into three categories (notes, handouts, homework) makes information easy to find. No more lost papers!
This three-ring notebook has tabbed dividers for notes, handouts,
and homework for two subjects (science and math).
Some schools require individual binders for each subject; others discourage binders. When using a binder, it is helpful to organize it with the sections for notes, handouts, and homework.
The hole punch is used for handouts so they can be put in your notebook. No more crumpled paper in the bottom of your backpack!
Your zippered pocket divider should be equipped with two pencils, a pen, hole punch, ruler, and any special supplies your school requires (like a pocket calculator). Don’t let this become your version of Mom’s “junk drawer”—no pencil stubs, scraps of paper, etc.
The file box is to store materials you are using for projects as well as notes and handouts from previous weeks that are needed for test review. Color code file folders to match your subject divider tabs in your notebook. This makes it easier to file and find files for each subject.
There are many reference materials available but a dictionary and thesaurus will get frequent use. A thesaurus is a book of synonyms and will be helpful in writing reports.
The small, spiral notebook is to be used for recording assignments and will be explained in Lesson 2.
The large monthly calendar is a planning tool, and its use will also be explained in Lesson 2.
The kitchen timer or alarm clock is a time-management tool and you will learn how to use it in the next lesson, too.
Some students like to use the colored pencils or pens to write assignments in a color that matches the color you are using for the dividers and files for that assignment, making it easy to spot assignments by subject. Just make sure that the color is easy to read.
Here are some space selection problems for you to solve:
Colette would like to do her homework in the family room, but her two brothers have the television on while she is trying to study. What should she do?
Manuel’s mother works, so he goes to a babysitter after school. It is OK with his babysitter if he does his homework at her house, but she also takes care of other students. What can Manuel do to create a study space at the babysitter’s house?
Mark can’t afford to buy a thesaurus. What can he do to get one?
After you have written your solutions to these problems, check here to see how the author solved these problems. You may have even come up with better solutions than the author.
Now it is time to solve your own study space problem. Has the place you selected met all the requirements for a great study space? Print this list and check each requirement met.
STUDY SKILLS CHECKLIST
You are expected to practice the study skills that you learn in each lesson in at least one regular subject such as science, social studies, or language arts. Print your first STUDY SKILLS CHECKLIST 
and use it to record your use of the skills learned in Lesson 1 on a daily basis.
Space Walk Answers
In this course, most of your Space Walk practice exercises have no one right answer—only best answers. You can check your answers with the author’s answers. It’s OK if you use different words, but you want to see if your ideas are about the same as the author’s ideas.
SPACE SELECTION PROBLEMS
In the first problem, Colette wants to study in the family room while her brothers want to watch TV. Colette will want to talk with her parents about the problem. Perhaps the TV shows can be taped and her brothers can watch them later. Maybe Colette needs to study at a time when the brothers are not watching TV. Perhaps the entire family could have a “quiet hour” when everyone is reading or studying. What were your ideas?
Manuel wants to study at the babysitter’s house after school but there are other after-school students there, too. Manuel can ask the babysitter if there is a space where it is quiet that he might study. Many babysitters make the first hour after school “homework” time with all of the students working on homework at a big table. Manuel has another problem in that he needs to have some study supplies to use at the babysitter’s house. He might want to get a pocket dictionary and a small box that could hold extra pencils, a ruler, and other supplies.
Mark can’t afford a thesaurus. Perhaps he can find a paperback edition or a used one at a book sale. He might also put it on his “wish list” for his next birthday.
Progress Evaluation
You should now complete the Lesson 1 Progress Evaluation. This progress evaluation consists of 20 multiple-choice questions worth 5 points each for a total possible of 100 points. Remember to mark your answers on a printed copy of the progress evaluation preview so you will have a record of them. (Select “Lesson 1” to preview this progress evaluation.) When you have finished filling in and checking your answers on a copy of the progress evaluation preview, click on Submit a Lesson for an actual lesson submission page.Note: Progress evaluations must be submitted in sequence, and you may submit no more than three progress evaluations in a seven-day period. You should keep the printed copy of each progress evaluation preview with your answers marked so you will have a record of them.
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