Build a Colony
Overview
There are four activity options, depending on the time available. As one goes from Option 1 to Option 4, children get progressively more background information and detail, which is reflected in producing a more-detailed space colony model.
Option 1 – A librarian-centered activity where the librarian uses books and/or videos to introduce children to living in space.
Option 2 – Children work as individuals to design an entire space colony.
Option 3 – Children work as a group, with each child creating a part of the colony model.
Option 4 – Children brainstorm to come up with a list of things required for humans to live a comfortable life on Earth, noting how Earth provides them with each item in their daily lives. They then design and construct a complete space colony that can provide these requirements.
In Options 2–4, in which children design a colony, children label their drawings/models, denoting the function of each area. They present their modules and colonies to one another and create a display for the library.
What's the Point?
- Humans — and all organisms — have specific requirements to live.
- Space and the surfaces of the Moon and Mars are a harsh environments for humans. The average temperatures are well below 0°F; there are high levels of solar radiation, which can damage body tissues; there is little or no atmosphere; and there are no sources of food or water.
- Earth provides the conditions, resources, and systems to provide the requirements of life.
- Because human needs remain the same, a self-contained habitat, such as a space colony, must provide the same elements as Earth.
- Providing and maintaining the conditions, resources, and systems required to support human life in space is a complex, challenging task.
- Since the failure of a major system would be catastrophic for the astronauts, back-up systems and escape systems are an essential part of the design of a space habitat.
Materials
- Books about space colonies
- Chalkboard, dry erase board, easel or large piece of paper, with chalk or markers
- White paper
- Rulers
- Colored pencils/markers
- A large piece of cardboard painted red on one side and gray on the other
- Two large tables (one for construction covered with newspaper)
- Boxes for the "parts"
Examples of materials for constructing a space colony or habitat:
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For the facilitator:
Activity
Option 1: Introduction to Space Colonies (Timeframe – 30 minutes)
Read a story to the group about space bases. It could be a fictional story like "Are We Moving to Mars?" or "Space Colonies" or an article about future bases, such as those that can be found in issues of Discover Magazine, Scientific American, or National Geographic. Share the information included in this activity about space colonies. You can show a video about space colonies, such as the introductory sequences in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Both the opening sequence to the orbiting space station and the landing on the Moon are short sequences that serve as introductions with few words.
Option 2: Designing a Simple Space Colony (Timeframe – 30–45 minutes)
Review with children the parts of a space base (see discussion notes under Step 4 of Option 4). If you have access to an overhead projector, print out on transparency paper the lists included in this section. On white paper, have them draw a design for their own space base, for Mars, the Moon, or an orbiting station. This can be done individually, in pairs, or in small groups. Discuss the different needs and considerations they have to consider in designing their colony.
Option 3: Building a Space Colony as a Group (Timeframe – 30–60 minutes)
1. Have the group choose either the Moon or Mars as the location for their base.
A large table with a piece of cardboard representing the lunar or Mars terrain can be painted red on one side and gray on the other before the activity and flipped to the correct side. Alternatively, children can create the landscape during the activity.
2. Using a chalk/dry erase board or a large piece of paper, have the group identify the needs of the base, the kinds of modular structures required, and their rough locations.
Limit the length of the discussion based on your time needs. However, make sure that children identify the major elements. For example:
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(see Steps 1, 3, and 4 in Option 4 for descriptions of each of these components)
3. Have the group divide into teams for the different parts of the base. Each child should contribute one or more modules to the final design. Review the collection of materials and have each team build their piece of the base using the available parts.
Discuss the scale of the modules so that they will relate to each other. For example, one inch equals one foot (or two), depending on the size of your table and base area cardboard. Everyone needs to construct his or her sections at the same scale.
4. After the base is complete, have the teams present their part to the rest of the group, noting the dimensions, equipment, layout, purpose, etc. Have them place it within the base area.
Take photos of each space colony and its designers! Create a display for the library.
Option 4: Building a Detailed Space Colony (Timeframe – 90 minutes to multiple days, depending on time available)
1. Have the children brainstorm to come up with a list of things required for humans to live a comfortable life on Earth. Write their suggestions on a board or on chart paper.
The three requirements for all Earth life are a source of energy, chemical nutrients, and water. Food is a term that encompasses both energy and chemical nutrients. An organism requires an environment that supplies these requirements on a continual basis. Not all life on Earth requires air to survive, but humans must have air to breathe. The environment also provides shelter from adverse conditions, such as excessive ultraviolet radiation, extremes of temperature, and predators. Children may also add human-specific items such as family, recreation/entertainment, communication, and transportation.
2. Next to each item on the list they created in Step 1, have the children note how Earth provides them with this item in their daily lives.
The point in this step is to connect the requirements of life to Earth's conditions, resources, and systems. Any spaceship or colony must reproduce the conditions for which human life is adapted — requiring air to breathe, plentiful food, shielding from ultraviolet light, power, etc. Draw as much as possible from the children. It is less important for the list to be exhaustive than to plant the idea of our connection to Earth.
3. Have children group the items into broad categories (e.g., food, shelter, electricity, communication, and entertainment).
This grouping will help children focus on the elements they must ensure are included in their design. Depending on the level of the group and your ambitions for the activity, you may want to review the following list or part of it. Again, let the children lead as much as possible. You want to avoid lecturing or being seen as the sole source of information. Consequently, general grouping categories are fine. Some groups can even skip this step.
- Air Supply: Your space colony will need air. The modules will have to be enclosed or the entire living area must be inside a protective dome. Production facilities could create oxygen from water by splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, using electrolysis. Oxygen is also produced by photosynthesis from plants and a greenhouse attached to a living area could help with this process. There is also a process that extracts the oxygen contained in minerals in the rocks and soil.
- Food Production: What are the basic food requirements for humans? (Consider the four food groups.) Space for producing food is very limited in a space colony. In any self-contained colony, food must be replenish-able, as replacement stock will not be available from Earth. The space available on the ship that transports the colony to Mars will be much more limited than even the colony itself. Even with limited resources, colonists will appreciate a varied diet. Some foods currently under consideration for use in space missions are soybeans and wheat. Soybeans and wheat both take up a small amount of space and are very nutritious. These crops can also be used to purify water and to produce oxygen from carbon dioxide using photosynthesis. A greenhouse will be a necessary addition to any space base.
- Water: Colonies will need a great deal of water for many purposes, including drinking, washing, and watering plants. Where will you get the water? How will it be stored? A recycling facility may be needed.
- Energy and Production Equipment: What energy source(s) will power the space colony? Will it be solar or nuclear? What about a back-up system? What kinds of production will take place at your colony? Will there be mining? Science laboratories? Telescopes? Fuel production systems? Water production facilities? How will they be integrated together?
- Living Quarters and Laboratories: Consider whether each colonist needs a private living space. Every square foot of the base requires more resources, but people are happier when they feel they have sufficient space and privacy. What kinds of workspaces will be needed? Laboratories, construction facilities, recycling systems, greenhouses, fuel production facilities, mining stations, etc. Think about the purpose of your colony and what it will need to fulfill that purpose.
- Communications: How will people communicate with one another? What methods work best for long distances? For short distances? Consider communicating with colonists who are out of the colony (such as colonists exploring in a rover). How will you communicate with the Earth? How will you communicate with other parts of a planet — such as stations on the other side of the planet? Will you use satellites? Antennas?
- Transportation: What kinds of trips will the crews need to make? How far will they need to go? Do you need different methods of transportation for different purposes? What will you use for fuel? What equipment will you bring and what containers will you need for returning samples to Earth?
- Recreation Facilities: Remember that the mind needs exercise as well as the body. How will these recreation facilities be different from those on Earth? Consider for example the lower gravity on the Moon (one-sixth that of Earth) and on Mars (one-third that of Earth).
4. Have children use the materials to design and construct a space habitat that can provide these requirements. Have them label their habitat, denoting the function of each area.
Depending on the level of the group, you may want to review the following list:
- Habitation Modules – Living quarters that may include showers, private rooms, eating areas, etc.
- Laboratory Modules – Work quarters where the crew conducts experiments.
- Greenhouses – Used to grow food and contribute to the oxygen environment; also a way to use excess carbon dioxide.
- Solar Arrays – Used to collect and store electricity to power various systems and activities.
- Antennas – Used for communications back to Earth and with other spacecraft.
- Surface Rovers –Pressurized rovers for long trips and open rovers for short trips.
- Resource Utilization Facilities –Used to mine the resources of the Moon or planet for use in the base or for manufacturing propellant (fuel) for space ships.
- Docking Facilities –Used for supply ships.
- Escape System –Used in case of an emergency.
5. Have children present their habitats to one another. Take pictures of the space colonies and designers. Create a display for the library.
Follow Up Questions
- Do you think we should build a lunar base before we go to Mars? Why?
- Why should the building of a lunar base or a Mars base be an international project?
- What are some of the problems that crews living in space or on the Moon will have to face?
- What hardships will the first space colonists on Mars have to endure?
- If you were living in a space colony, what would you miss most about Earth?
- If you were born in a space colony, what would your life be like? How would it be different?
October 19, 2009
