Space Capsule Heat Shield: Engineering Design Unit

Space Capsule Heat Shield: Engineering Design Unit
NASA needs your help! After a month in space, your crew of astronauts are ready to come back home to Earth. But re-entry through the Earth’s atmosphere is dangerous. You are traveling at 17,500 miles per hour (28,100 kmh) and your spacecraft will experience heat up to 5,000°F (2760°C)! How will you protect the astronauts?

Take your STEM classroom to the next level with this Stage 2 Engineering Design Unit that includes real-world engineering, explicit science and math connections, and an exciting hands-on challenge of designing a heat shield to protect crew during a fiery re-entry to Earth's atmosphere.

Learn more about the stages of STEM here.

Engineering Learning Goals - Students will design a heat shield and gain a deeper understanding of:

• Real-World Connections:

  • Explore NASA's Orion heat shield

  • Identify that weight is a limitation in space travel 

  • Understand the role of material scientists in heat shield design

• Habits of Mind:

  • Define the criteria and constraints of an engineering problem

  • Use data to inform design decisions

  • Evaluate design performance and identify ways to improve 

• Making:

  • Use common materials to build a heat shield

  • Use knowledge of material properties to build a heat shield

• Science:

  • Understand that heat transfers to areas of less heat 

  • Recognize that insulators slow the transfer of heat

  • Develop an investigation to identify how materials  slow the transfer of heat in the material

• Math:

  • Calculate temperature differences 

  • Collect and graph data

• Technology:

  • Identify how engineers have designed and tested different solutions for a heat shield 

  • Compare NASA’s ablative and inflatable heat shield ideas 

  • Compare features of their heat shield design to a real one

Included in this product:

• Detailed teacher's guide with links to resources

• Editable teacher companion Google Slides

• Photos of student examples

• Editable printed student handouts to guide them through the design process

• Videos to motivate and support learning

• STEM Career Connections and real-world examples

• Science handouts

• Student recording sheet for each step of the process

Materials: 

• 5 oz paper cup 

• ¼ of regular chocolate bar per test

• Hair dryer

• Tongs

• Digital scale 

• Stopwatch

• Oven mitts/gloves 

• Thermometers

• Masking tape

• Scissors

• Foil

• Possible heat shield materials: Card stock, index cards, construction paper, Newspaper, cotton balls, cardboard, styrofoam, foam, bubble wrap

Standards Alignment:

• Next Generation Science Standards: MS-PS3-3; MS-ETS1-1,2,3,4

• ITEE STEL Grade 6-8: 1K/J/M, 2Q/N/S, 4K, 5F, 6C, 7Q/R/U/S/V

• Common Core Math Standards: MP2/3/4/5/6; 6.SP.B.5; 7.G.A.1

• 2021 Texas Science Standards:

  • Practices: 1A/B/D/E/F/G, 2A/C/D, 3A/B, 4A

  • Content: 6.1A/B/C/D, 6.2C/D, 6.4A/C, 6.6A, 6.7A, 6.9A, 7.7A, 7.8A