https://nifa.usda.gov/ 

program/4-h-positive-youthdevelopment 

National Institute 

of Food 

and Agriculture 

United States 

Department of 

Agriculture 

lesson plan: activity 1.9 

lesson details introduction 

DepenDing on others 

A FederAl PArtnershiP For steM educAtion 

expeditionary

skills

for life 

 

National Aeronautics 

and Space 

Administration 

age/grade level 

Elementary School 

learner outcoMes 

Youth will have a greater understanding of working in a team and utilizing 

nonverbal cues. 

success indicators 

Youth will demonstrate the use of 

nonverbal communication skills 

while completing a team challenge. 

life skills 

Teamwork, Leadership, Cooperation, 

Problem Solving 

national standards 

21st Century Skills/Learning and 

Innovation Skills/COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION/ 

Communicate clearly, collaborate 

with others 

21st Century Skills/Learning and 

Innovation Skills/CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING/ 

Reason effectively, use systems 

thinking, makes judgements and 

decisions, solve problems 

21st Century: Life and Career Skills / 

FLEXBILITY AND ADAPTABILITY / 

Develop thinking skills, content 

knowledge, and social and emotional competencies to navigate 

complex life and work environments 

prep tiMe 

None 

activity tiMe 

1 hour 10 minutes (all activities 

combined) 

Materials list 

•	 Yard stick (or broom stick, or 

something like either one) 

•	 Flip chart paper 

•	 Markers 

•	 Playing cards 

suggested space 

An open space with minimal 

obstructions and space for youth to 

move around 

suggested group size 

Minimum of 4 youth 

references 

Life in Space 

https://www.esa.int/esaKIDSen/ 

SEMG2JWJD1E_LifeinSpace_0.html 

Gravity Facts 

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/
 

sciencefacts/gravity.html
 

How Do Astronauts Communicate in 

Space? 

https://tellmewhyfacts. 

com/2007/12/how-do-astronautscommunicate-in-space.html 

Conflict is a natural event and can 

be necessary to move relationships 

and projects forward. It provides 

an opportunity for discussion and supports 

open-mindedness. Without conflicts there 

may not be change or innovation. 

On the International Space Station, astronauts 

are weightless and float unless they are held 

down by seatbelts. There is no up or down. 

There is no difference between a floor and a 

ceiling. This can make it very challenging to 

move from one place to another, to eat a meal, 

or to conduct a science experiment. 

Movement is not the only challenge that astronauts have to overcome when living and working on the International Space Station. Sound 

can also be a challenge. 

In order for one to hear sound it must travel 

through air (gas particles) of which space has 

very little. Sound can only travel through a solid, 

liquid or gas. Space, being an almost perfect 

vacuum, does not allow sound to travel and be 

heard by the ears. Sound is vibrations of air 

particles, so any “sound” that is heard in space 

has to come from another source. 

As such, astronauts communicate with each 

other in space when they are spacewalking 

through the use of radio waves. Radio wave 

signal are sent to their headsets which then 

translates the signal into the form of sound. 

Astronauts can however, talk to each other as if 

they were on Earth only when they are in their 

space ship. Here, there are enough air particles 

to vibrate and take the sound to their ear drum. 

continued next page >> 
page 2

lesson plan: activity 1.9 

DepenDing on others, ContinueD 

expeditionary

skills

for life 

>> continued from previous page 

activity instructions
 

activity: Weightless stick (30 Minutes)
 

Explain that in space, gravity - or the lack thereof - is an 

issue our astronauts have to deal with every single day. To 

help prepare you for the challenges of working in a weightless environment, NASA has provided you and your team 

with a “Weightless Stick” (the yard stick). This stick is 

very fragile and needs to be handled carefully. Your team’s 

mission is to lower the stick to the ground, without letting 

it fall and break. 

Directions: 

1.	 Divide the group into small teams of 4-6 youth per 

team. 

2.	 Have each team line up in two columns, shoulder to 

shoulder. The columns should face each other with 

about two feet between the columns. 

3.	 Youth should stand with their index finger extended; all 

fingers should be level and at about waist height. 

4.	 Once youth are situated, explain that the youth are 

completing this task in space so there is no verbal 

communication. That means they cannot speak to 

each other but must communicate with their eyes, 

expressions, gestures, and other non-verbal cues. 

5.	 The facilitator places the yard stick on the outstretched 

index fingers of the youth. One yard stick per team. 

6. Allow the teams to lower their sticks.
 

Note:
 

Though the object is to have the “Weightless Stick” lowered to the ground, there is a natural inclination to ‘raise’ 

the stick. No one wants to be the person to drop the stick, 

and as such they find themselves actually raising the stick. 

If there is more than one facilitator available, teams can 

“race” against each other to see who can lower their 

Weightless Stick first. Throughout the activity, the facilitator is encouraged to remind the teams that this task is to 

be completed without verbal communication. 

Discuss: 

•	 What did you learn while working with the experimental 

anti-gravity stick? 

•	 Describe how you communicated with each other while 

working with the anti-gravity stick in ways that did not 

involve talking. 

•	 Describe how the stick seemed to be “weightless” at 

some points. Why do you think that happened? 

•	 How did you start to realize what needed to be done to 

accomplish the goal? 

•	 How were decisions made? 

•	 What problems came up? 

•	 How were they handled? 

•	 What was most challenging? 

•	 What key elements did you learn? 

•	 Why is it important to vary communication styles when 

working as a team? 

•	 In what ways did you help each other? 

debrief: playing card Match-up 

(20 Minutes) 

Explain that you are going to hand out cards to everyone 

but youth cannot speak to one another, nor can they show 

their card to anyone else. Make sure youth understand 

these two restrictions before beginning the game because 

it is these two rules that force youth to engage in meaningful nonverbal communication in order to work together. 

Give each youth a card and instruct them that their job is 

to organize themselves into groups according to the suit 

(spade, diamond, club or heart) on their card. 

Discuss: 

•	 How did you communicate to come together as a group 

with the same suit? 

•	 Was the communication used the same or different 

from the last activity? Why or why not? 

•	 Did anyone take on a leadership role? If so, what did 

that role look like? 

continued next page >> 
page 3

lesson plan: activity 1.9 

DepenDing on others, ContinueD 

expeditionary

skills

for life 

>> continued from previous page	 fun facts 

•	 Were there multiple leaders? 

•	 Did the role of the leader or the person acting as a 

leader change during the activity? 

•	 What was the role of the followers (non-leaders)? 

•	 Could this task have been completed if everyone was a 

leader? What if everyone was a follower? 

•	 Why is it important to have both leaders and followers 

for a group task to be successful? 

applied challenge: depending upon 

others (20 Minutes) 

Ask the group, “What does it mean to depend on other 

people?” Brainstorm ideas and write them on a large sheet 

of paper. Tell them: There are many things you can do on 

your own, but some require the cooperation, help and 

special talents of others. When you work with others to 

achieve a goal, you build trust and friendship. When you 

ask for help and depend on someone else, the other 

person feels needed and that you care about them. 

If you needed help with each of the tasks below, who 

would you depend on? Why did you choose that person? 

•	 Learning how to ride a bike 

•	 Getting better at a sport 

•	 Learning a new idea 

•	 Raking leaves 

•	 Shopping for clothes 

•	 Doing your homework 

•	 Deciding what to wear to a party 

Ask for volunteers to share an example of something they 

plan to do in the next week that they will need to depend 

on someone else. Have them identify who they will ask 

for help and tell why they chose that person. 

Gravity keeps Earth and the other planets in our solar 

system in orbit around the Sun. It also keeps the Moon in 

orbit around Earth. 

Tides are caused by the rotation of the Earth and the 

gravitational effects of the Moon and Sun. 

Quote 

“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. 

Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” 

Albert Einstein 

instructor’s notes 
activity 1.9: learner assessMent 

These questions are about things you learned during this 

activity. Please check the circle that best describes you. 

Q1 

Q2 

Q3 

activity 1.9: learner assessMent 

These questions are about things you learned during this 

activity. Please check the circle that best describes you. 

Q1 

Q2 

Q3 

activity 1.9: learner assessMent 

These questions are about things you learned during this 

activity. Please check the circle that best describes you. 

Q1 

Q2 

Q3 

activity 1.9: learner assessMent 

These questions are about things you learned during this 

activity. Please check the circle that best describes you. 

expeditionary

skills


for life

expeditionary

skills


for life 

If I want to tell someone on my team something without 

speaking, I can still find a way to communicate with them. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I understand that I can’t do everything by myself. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

If my team wants to do something together, we can find 

many ways to reach our goal. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

If I want to tell someone on my team something without 

speaking, I can still find a way to communicate with them. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I understand that I can’t do everything by myself. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

If my team wants to do something together, we can find 

many ways to reach our goal. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

expeditionary

skills


for life

expeditionary

skills


for life 

If I want to tell someone on my team something without If I want to tell someone on my team something without 

speaking, I can still find a way to communicate with them. Q1 speaking, I can still find a way to communicate with them. 

Not at all like me Not at all like me 

A little like me A little like me 

Somewhat like me Somewhat like me 

A lot like me A lot like me 

I understand that I can’t do everything by myself. Q2 I understand that I can’t do everything by myself. 

Not at all like me Not at all like me 

A little like me A little like me 

Somewhat like me Somewhat like me 

A lot like me A lot like me 

If my team wants to do something together, we can find If my team wants to do something together, we can find 

many ways to reach our goal. Q3 many ways to reach our goal. 

Not at all like me Not at all like me 

A little like me A little like me 

Somewhat like me Somewhat like me 

A lot like me A lot like me