Let’s make a satellite to put it into earth’s orbit.

I would like to write about the activity I performed by using a Scientix resource for the “STEM Discovery Week 2019” on 25th April 2019.

I asked questions to my students to evaluate what they know about engineering.

I have shown satellite photos and created a discussion about satellites.

I tried to find out which tools are available on the satellites, what they do, what tasks the satellites perform.

Then I asked them to design a satellite to observe how the amount of forests changed from year by year.

We have discussed with the students what type of satellites we can design, what tools are needed to move around the earth and how big they should be.

We’ve brought limitations for satellite design. The size of the satellite must fit the rocket, it must contain observation and communication devices and it mustn’t be damaged when it falls from 1 meter height.

I gave students aluminium foil, paper cup, ice cream bar, buttons and glue. They had 20 minutes to make their own design of satellites with the given materials. After 20 minutes, we tested their designs, other satellites and made the robustness tests.

I asked those who could not pass the tests to review their designs. I asked the testers to tell their friends about their designs.

We completed the event with 30 of 3-6th-grade students. Participation in the event was voluntary. Two 8th grade students helped me and their fellow students voluntarily.

We organized the event as a workshop in a tent which we placed in a school yard.

The Scientix resource I used:

http://www.scientix.eu/resources/details?resourceId=17391

Other resources

https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/630753main_NASAsBESTActivityGuide3-5.pdf

https://www.curiositymachine.org/challenges/84/