Moon Habitat

Task:

You are going to the moon! In a team you need to construct a ‘moon habitat’ where you could survive for some months while you studied the moon’s surface. The moon habitat has to be very sturdy and tough to withstand the freezing cold at night, and the searing heat during the day. Tiny space rocks also rain down on the moon.

You will have 30 minutes to construct your moon habitat (teachers – you can give longer for younger students).

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Materials:

• Two full newspapers – 74 full pages in total if possible
• Pencil
• Sticky tape
• Scissors
• Strong stapler

• More newspapers for the ‘walls’ (optional)

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  Procedure:

A dome shape (like in the picture) is the most sturdy design.

 1. Start by rolling newspaper to make a stick – the best way to do this is to lay 2 full pages flat, on top of each other. Put the pencil in the corner androll across on the diagonal. Remove pencil once you have a tight roll started. Tape the ends to it doesn’t unravel.

 Make as many ‘sticks’ as you can with the paper. This full design uses 37. 

2. Staple 3 sticks together to make a triangle shape

 

3. Repeat so you have 5 triangles and staple to each other             

 4. Staple 5 ‘sticks’ together to form a star shape.

 5. Raise the 5 connected triangles (or walls) off the floor and staple the ends together to form a 5 sided (pentagonal) structure

6. Staple the star shape to the top junctions of the triangles, and the structure should      now stand by itself  

  

                                  

 

 

7. If you have time you can make an ‘airlock’ with any remaining sticks.

8. You can give the structure solid ‘walls’ by draping paper over each section carefully.      Use the sticky tape to attach them.

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Judging

A judge will come around and check the sturdiness and strength of your moon habitat, and its design.

Sturdiness		Shape		Airlock
Falls over	0	Rating given between 0-5		Extra 5 points if they’ve had   time to make an airlock
Bit flimsy	1
Moderately strong	2	Falls over	0
Very sturdy	3	Good pentagonal shape	5
					TOTAL SCORE

 

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