Mission Mars: Design a Safe and Sustainable Space Habitat

Materials Needed

• Paper or a notebook
• Pencils, colored pencils, or markers
• Ruler
• Building materials such as cardboard, craft sticks, paper cups, tape, clay, or recycled containers
• Optional: computer or tablet for research
• Optional: a timer

Lesson Overview

Age/Grade: Fifth grade

Time: 60–90 minutes

Subjects: Science, engineering, writing, mathematics, and creative problem-solving

Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson, the learner will be able to:

• Identify at least three challenges humans would face living on Mars.
• Explain how a habitat protects people from a dangerous environment.
• Design and build a model Mars habitat that includes solutions for safety, air, water, food, and energy.
• Use labels, measurements, and clear explanations to communicate a design.
• Evaluate the design and suggest at least one improvement.

Success Criteria

A successful project will:

• Include protection from extreme cold, dust, radiation, or low air pressure.
• Show how astronauts get air, water, food, and energy.
• Contain at least four clearly labeled features.
• Use materials carefully and include a neat, understandable design.
• Explain why each design choice is useful.

Introduction: The Mars Challenge

Hook: Imagine that you are chosen to help build the first home on Mars. Your team has landed safely, but Mars has no breathable air, very little liquid water, dangerous dust storms, and temperatures that can become extremely cold. What would your home need to keep people alive?

Tell the learner:

“Today, you are an engineer and space architect. Your job is to design a Mars habitat that helps astronauts live, work, and stay safe.”

Quick Think-and-Talk

Ask the learner to think quietly for one minute, then answer:

• What would be the hardest part of living on Mars?
• What would you pack if you could take only five important items?
• What does every home on Earth provide for people?

Explain that engineers solve problems by identifying needs, imagining solutions, building models, testing ideas, and improving their designs.

Body: Learn and Create

Part 1: I Do—Explore the Problem

Explain the following Mars facts in student-friendly language:

• Air: Mars does not have air that humans can breathe, so astronauts need spacesuits and sealed buildings.
• Temperature: Mars can be much colder than most places on Earth.
• Water: Water is scarce on the surface, so astronauts would need to recycle it and carefully collect or use frozen water.
• Radiation: Mars has less protection from harmful radiation than Earth does.
• Dust: Fine dust can damage equipment and make it difficult to see.
• Food: Astronauts cannot depend on regular grocery deliveries, so they may need stored food and plants grown indoors.
• Energy: Solar panels could provide energy, but dust and distance from the Sun can make energy collection difficult.

Model one possible solution:

Problem: Astronauts need breathable air.

Design solution: Build a sealed habitat with an air-making or air-recycling system.

Reason: A sealed habitat keeps the air inside and prevents harmful outside gases and dust from entering.

Formative Check

Ask:

• Why could astronauts not simply open a window on Mars?
• Why might a habitat need more than one energy source?
• Which challenge do you think would be easiest to solve? Which would be hardest?

Part 2: We Do—Plan the Habitat

Work together to create a planning chart. The learner may write, draw, or dictate ideas.

Invite the learner to choose at least four features for the habitat. Possible features include:

• Sleeping quarters
• Science laboratory
• Indoor garden
• Water recycling station
• Solar panels
• Airlock for entering and leaving safely
• Communication room
• Emergency shelter
• Storage area
• Rover garage

Think-Pair-Share Alternative

If another person is available, take turns presenting one habitat feature. The listener should ask:

• What problem does this feature solve?
• How would astronauts use it?
• What might go wrong, and how could you improve it?

Part 3: You Do—Build and Label the Habitat

Give the learner the following design mission:

Design and build a model Mars habitat for four astronauts. Your habitat must help them breathe, stay warm, find or recycle water, obtain food, and produce energy.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Sketch: Draw the habitat from above. Include rooms, entrances, equipment, and emergency areas.
2. Plan: Decide which building materials will represent walls, windows, tanks, plants, solar panels, and machines.
3. Build: Construct the model using available materials.
4. Label: Add at least four labels to important features.
5. Measure: Use a ruler to measure the length and width of the model. Record the measurements.
6. Explain: Write three to five sentences explaining how the habitat keeps astronauts safe.
7. Test: Pretend that a dust storm has blocked some solar panels or that an air leak has occurred. Explain what the astronauts would do.

Optional Design Challenge

Set a timer for 10 minutes and announce a surprise problem:

• The main solar panels are covered with dust.
• An astronaut becomes sick and needs a medical area.
• The water recycling system stops working.
• A habitat door will not close properly.
• The indoor garden needs more light.

Ask the learner to add one improvement or backup system to solve the problem.

Assessment

Formative Assessment During the Lesson

• Listen for accurate explanations of Mars challenges.
• Ask the learner to explain the purpose of each habitat feature.
• Check that the design includes solutions for air, water, food, warmth, and energy.
• Ask the learner to predict what might happen if one system failed.

Summative Assessment: Habitat Presentation

Have the learner give a two-minute presentation using this structure:

1. “My habitat is called…”
2. “The biggest challenge on Mars is…”
3. “This feature solves the problem because…”
4. “The astronauts get air, water, food, and energy by…”
5. “One possible problem is…, and my solution is…”

Simple Rubric

Differentiation and Choice

Support for Learners Who Need More Help

• Provide a habitat template with rooms already drawn.
• Allow the learner to explain ideas orally instead of writing every answer.
• Use a word bank: airlock, radiation, recycle, insulation, energy, shelter, garden, emergency.
• Build one section at a time rather than the entire habitat at once.
• Offer sentence starters such as “The habitat needs ___ because ___.”

Extensions for Advanced Learners

• Calculate the model’s scale, such as 1 centimeter representing 1 meter.
• Research how real spacecraft recycle water and air.
• Design a budget using pretend prices for building materials.
• Compare living on Mars with living on the Moon.
• Write a daily schedule for one astronaut living in the habitat.
• Design a second version that uses less energy or fewer materials.

Conclusion: Mission Debrief

Ask the learner to complete these statements:

• “One thing I learned about Mars is…”
• “The most important part of my habitat is…”
• “A design choice I changed was…”
• “If I built the habitat again, I would…”

Recap the main ideas:

• Engineers begin by identifying a problem.
• Mars is challenging because it has no breathable air, extreme temperatures, limited water, radiation, and dust.
• A good habitat uses several systems to protect people and provide basic needs.
• Designs improve when they are tested, explained, and revised.

Optional Follow-Up Activity

Write a postcard or email from an astronaut living in the completed habitat. Describe one ordinary day, including where the astronaut sleeps, eats, works, exercises, and gets water and air.