Students will create a postcard, illustrating an engineering invention that will ride to space on a rocket and then be sent back to them. They will complete this task individually. It may be assigned as homework, if appropriate for your classroom.
Learning Objectives
- Apply design thinking and creativity to solve a problem that people living in space will face.
- Get excited about space exploration through a personal connection to current space engineering.
What You’ll Need
Hands-on
- Paper
- Pen or pencil
- Stamped envelope
Minds-on
- Creativity
- Exploration
- Risk-taking
Send a Postcard to Space
The Club for the Future is asking students from around the world to send them postcards answering the question:
WHAT WOULD YOU BUILD IN SPACE THAT COULD HELP THE EARTH?
Once you have your idea, draw it on a postcard, then mail it to the Club. Then, the Club will put your postcard on one of Blue Origin’s New Shepard rockets and launch it to space! Upon your postcard’s return from space, it will be stamped “Flown to Space” then mailed back to you as a special keepsake.
Ask your students to write a short paragraph describing their invention and what problem it is designed to solve for people living in space.
Ask students to describe how they could test their design here on Earth.
For Students
What would students need in order to build a model or prototype of their design?
For a connection to human spaceflight, consider showing a portion of Apollo 11—a 2019 film that is almost entirely historical footage of the first mission to put people on the moon.
For Teachers
Think about ways to integrate STEM and communication competencies.
How might you use this project as an opportunity to help students improve their speaking and listening skills over time? What would it look like to have your students share their work with an audience?