Audience
Educators
Grade Levels
Grades 5-8
Subject
Engineering Design, Human Space Exploration, Life Science, Mathematics, Physical Science, Space Science, Animals and Plants, Health and Nutrition, Life Support, Living and Working in Space, Space Biology, Measurement and Data Analysis, Numbers and Operations, Problem Solving, Energy, Solar System and Planets, Space Radiation, Earth, Earth's Moon, Mars
Type
Educator Guides, Lesson Plans / Activities
Five standards-aligned activities help students learn about the five challenges that make spaceflight dangerous.
With these activities, students will:
- Protect a potato “astronaut” from the harmful effects of radiation.
- Form a company to research isolation and confinement and present a proposal to “sell” the company’s idea to a simulated NASA panel.
- Research and investigate water consumption rates of astronauts based on a given scenario and determine if their water supply is enough to sustain them on the remainder of their journey.
- Design a functional exercise device that will help mitigate the damage of bone loss and atrophy.
- Design an enclosed, self-sustainable habitat for astronauts on a deep space mission.
Next Generation Science Standards: MS-ESS1-3, MS-ETS1-2, MS-LS1-5, MS-LS1.A, MS-LS2.D, MS-LS2-2, MS-LS2-3MS-LS3-1, MS-PS3-3, MS-PS3-2
Common Core Math Standards: MP.27.EE.3, 8.F.B.4, 7.EE.B.4, 6.RP.A.1, 6.NS.B.3, 6.EE.A.2, 7.EE.B.3
Hazards to Deep Space Astronauts
Hazards to Deep Space Astronauts (Spanish Version)
Section Links:
Introductory Pages
Activity One: Radiation
Activity Two: Isolation and Confinement
Activity Three: Distance
Activity Four: Gravity
Activity Five: Environment
Appendix
This educator guide is part of the Next Gen STEM Moon series. Also in this series:
Crew Transportation With Orion
Propulsion With the Space Launch System
Habitation With Gateway
Landing Humans on the Moon
Hazards to Deep Space Astronauts
Deep Space Communications
Artemis Generation Spacesuits
Build, Launch, Recover