5. Dangerous Dust

Setup: Prep Time 40 min.

• Set up materials stations.
• Prepare chart.
• Print handouts.
• Prepare ice for Adventure 6, as noted in Materials & Preparation.

*See Materials & Preparation in the Educator Guide linked above for full info.

21st Century Skills

• Critical Thinking

Habits of Mind

• Apply science knowledge to problem-solving
• Investigate properties and uses of materials

Learners Will Do

• Test how materials protect against dust and consider which to use in a space glove.

Learners Will Know

• Engineers must learn how different materials work for different uses.

Connecting Across Adventures

• Adventure 4: Ready for Impact: Last time, learners tested how materials protect against impact.
• Adventure 5: Dangerous Dust: Today, learners test how materials resist dust. Later, they’ll use collected data to design space gloves.
• Adventure 6: Create a Space Glove: Next time, learners will plan, create, and test gloves to protect against space hazards.

Level Up! (Optional)

• Translatable testing instructions are available in the How to Prepare and Teach Playlist

• If learners would benefit from an additional visual of the testing procedure, play How to Design and Test Space Gloves (1:33–2:11).

• Refer to the Engineering Design Process poster. Ask: What phases of the Engineering Design Process did you use today? (The Ask phase. We asked which materials are best at protecting against dust.) What other technologies protect objects from dust? (Instrument cases, laptop/tablet cases, dust jackets, vacuums.) (5 min.)

• If you can, show the video clip Lunar Dust Is Difficult (1:00) to help learners understand the hazards of dust on the surface of the Moon. (5 min.)

• Dust is a very big problem for astronauts and rovers exploring other planets. Here’s an article from NASA about some of the hazards and mitigation strategies that astronauts are considering for exploration of the Moon: “Dust: An Out-of-This World Problem.” (5 min.)

• Invite a family or community member to come in as a special guest and share their knowledge about hazard-related topics. (45 min.)

• Ask this story prompt: Can you tell me a story about something creative you did to keep yourself or your clothes from getting dirty? Tell learners, if anyone asks what they did today, they can tell them “We tested how well materials protect against dust,” and then ask them the above story prompt. Consider returning to learners’ ideas at the start of the next adventure. (5 min.)