Christa McAuliffe
1948–1986
Framingham
Christa McAuliffe grew up in Framingham and graduated from Framingham State College before becoming a teacher. She wanted students to see history as the lives of ordinary people, including their own families. NASA selected her for its Teacher in Space Project in 1985. She trained to share lessons from the space shuttle with classrooms on Earth. McAuliffe and six crewmates died when Challenger broke apart shortly after launch in 1986. Her educational legacy continues through programs that connect science, exploration, and teaching. Her story also belongs to the history of responsibility and safety in exploration.
You can use your device’s reading tools or read with a partner.
Find a detail. Build an idea.
- What did this person or group do? Point to a detail in the reading.
- What problem did this person investigate? Who else helped make progress?
- What would you like to find out next? Which kind of source could help?
“Christa McAuliffe mattered because ___. A detail that supports my idea is ___.”
Grades 6–8: dig deeper
Why might NASA have wanted a classroom teacher to help explain space exploration to the public?
Follow the evidence.
This short reading is an original classroom summary. Open the source with your teacher to check details and learn more.
Read the source: NASA ↗Ask: Who made this source? What can it tell us? What might it leave out?