We’ve been excitedly following the news about the private capsule that docked with the International Space Station this weekend. In addition to lots of news coverage of the mission, there’s a cool video of the astronauts opening the hatch to the capsule (the action kicks in at around minute 36). In honor of the momentous step in space exploration history, we looked up some activities related to the ISS and rockets.
In NASA’s We Have Capture activity, you can make a grasping device like the one that’s at the end of the robotic arm on the International Space Station. The arm is actually what caught the Dragon Capsule in this latest mission. We Have Capture uses simple, cheap materials, and the activity write up includes lots of background information and some challenges for more advanced learners. The grasping device could be made ahead of time for younger participants, then they could attempt to grab different objects.
A full moon rise over Earth as seen from the ISS.
Dragonfly TV has an online Space Station game called So Many Parts. In the game, you are a space walking astronaut who must navigate outside of the ISS in order to fix certain areas of the station that need repairs. The game simulates Newton’s Third Law of Motion (for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction), and you must complete the mission before you run out of fuel or oxygen. We found it pretty tricky even on the “easy” setting, but we’ve learned from experience that our students are often way more video game competent than we are. This could be a good addition to a list of games for students to play during free time in computer classes.
NASA has a whole set of activities devoted to the theme of Training Like an Astronaut. The simple tasks are accompanied by videos featuring actual astronauts. Although many of the exercises are simple and sound a little more like P.E. than science class, we like the focus on fitness from the perspective that to be an astronaut, you must really stay healthy. Crew Assembly is one of the stand-out activities from the bunch – in it, participants work in teams to assemble puzzles. The trick is, that they must do so relay style and with two pairs of (big!) gloves on to simulate the importance of being dexterous even when wearing a space suit.
There are lots of rocket design activities out there; we like 3-2-1 Puff! also from NASA. The paper rockets are launched by puffing air through a drinking straw (so no need to make or purchase a fancy launcher). The activity includes a nice template and a Paper Rocket Test Report worksheet that would definitely be good for older learners. There is also a lot of opportunities to test variables while doing 3-2-1 Puff!, learners are encouraged to try different styles of nose cones, add fins, etc.
