My Moon Colony
Students are introduced to the futuristic concept of the moon as a place people can inhabit. They brainstorm what people would need to live on the moon and then design a fantastic Moon colony and decide how to power it. Students use the engineering design process, which includes researching various types of energy sources and evaluating which would be best for their moon colonies.
Students create a moon colonyCopyright Wikimedia Commons http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Full_Moon_as_Seen_From_Denmark.jpg
Can we ever live on the moon? Well, to make such a project possible, engineers of all disciplines must work together to imagine, design, create and test advanced technologies to enable us to inhabit the moon. Today's engineers are moving a step in the right direction: they are already designing renewable energy sources that can be used in space.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Use the engineering design process to determine an appropriate solution for powering a moon colony.
- Explain at least three ways that energy can be produced.
- Recognize that advanced technology would be needed for humans to inhabit the moon.