Effects of Space on the Human Body
Additional Activities
Living and Working in Space
Living in Space - This NASA Explores activity will allow children K–4 to simulate living in space. Four activities are provided and include working in tight spaces, space food, microgravity and relaxing in space.
Space Food and Nutrition - Designed for K–8th grade educators, Space Food and nutrition offers several activities in which children learn about the decisions that have to be made when taking food into space — from shelf-life to size to tastiness to nutrition to storage of food waste.
This NASA coloring book for ages 4–11 includes several coloring pages of the space shuttle, International Space Station, and living and working in space. Other coloring pages can be found here.
Growing Microbes In a Bag - Children ages 5–8 will enjoy growing microbes in baggies to provide evidence that microbes can grow in many environments — even in space.
Inflatable Greenhouses - This activity builds on space colony greenhouses and allows children ages 5–9 to observe plant growth using large clear balloons, soil, and seeds.
Sweet Crystals - Growing sugar crystals for life in space. Children 5–9 learn what it takes to grow your own crystals and learn about protein synthesis and the building blocks of life.
Nutritional Biochemistry: Just For Kids - Download some fantastic space nutrition newsletters and experiments designed for children ages 8–13. Newsletters present current research, games, activities, fun facts, and more. Experiments investigate how what we eat influences our bodies and health – on Earth and in space!
Education and Outreach - Download a plethora of activity and information booklets for educators of children ages 8 through 16. Designed to explore the effects and challenges of living in space on the human body, topics include: Sleep and Daily Rhythms, Muscles and Bones, Food and Fitness Download, From Outerspace to Innerspace: Learning About the Human Body, The Brain in Space, and Human Physiology in Space.
Liftoff to Learning: Living in Space - Children ages 8–14 explore aspects of living in space, including food preparation, microgravity, and relaxation. Short hands-on activities spark the conversation. An accompanying online video enhances discussion.
The Virtual Astronaut - is an interactive 3-D Web site that allows children ages 8–13 to explore the recent findings in physical sciences, space sciences, space medicine, biomedical research, and living in space. This site has great visuals and easily digested text and hands-on activities.
The Satellite Delay Relay - Children ages 9–11 learn the challenges of satellite communication as they work to instruct each other in building a model space station.
Destination Mars - provides lesson plans to engage children ages 11–14 in Mars and its exploration. Activities explore getting to Mars, the Mars environment, and the search for life on other planets. Developed by the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science group at Johnson Space Center.
Air Supply Children ages 12 and older design and build a craft-model air supply system for a human settlement on the Moon. They reflect on what the lunar atmosphere is like, what humans need to breathe, and how oxygen is obtained on Earth.
Radiation Circles - Using chalk, tape and blindfolds the children work in groups called radiation circles to develop a plan of action for a space travel mission. For ages 6–12.
Life in Space: International Space Station - This site provides activities through which children ages 11–13 work in groups to explore different aspects of living and working in space.
Building Space Colonies – Challenges
Space Day - This site includes challenges to children to design colonies, instruments, and support for other human aspects of space exploration. News, events, discussion boards, materials, and resources are presented to enable children and educators to celebrate Space Day!
3D Space Station Adventure provides interactive activities for children ages 4–12. Visitors are challenged to design space vehicles and stations, as well as equip a space station. Coloring books and games also can be found at this site.
Lunar Research Station Design Challenge - NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) is challenging children, primarily ages 10–13, to design systems to support living and working on the moon. The challenges will be to design a combination of facilities that support arriving precisely, living adaptively and working efficiently that will make exploration possible on the moon and can protect both the explorers and the Moon from contamination.
Building Space Colonies
Space Colony Webquest - Children ages 11–13 are challenged to work in teams to develop a proposal to put a colony of 600 humans somewhere beyond Earth. A teacher page is also provided.
Food Production - Children ages 11–13 are challenged to design a system for maintaining a food supply for a human settlement on the Moon.
Gravity and Microgravity
Gravity - This site offers great explanations and demonstrations of gravity and its effect. Children ages 6–10 will benefit from what this site offers.
Radiation
Teacher Sheet - Children ages 10 and up observe the shape of iron filings around a bar magnet and work toward understanding Earth’s magnetism and the basic shape of Earth’s magnetosphere. Children learn about shielding against space rays.
This NASA extension provides instructions for building and creating radiation shielding for a spacecraft. This activity is appropriate for children ages 9–14.
The Why Files presents an article about radiation on Earth and how it has increased over the years. There is an on-line activity link listed under Lesson Plans that asks a series of questions to determine how much radiation you are exposed to over a year. This site is appropriate for children 10 and up.
