3. Chilling Out

Setup: Prep Time 50 min.

• Set up materials stations.
• Prepare chart.
• Print handouts.

*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 insulate against cold 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 2: Everyday Gloves: Last time, learners did simple tasks wearing different gloves and compared results. Then they learned how spacesuit gloves protect astronauts from space hazards.
• Adventure 3: Chilling Out: Today, learners test how well different materials protect against cold. Later, they’ll use collected data to design space gloves.
• Adventure 4: Ready for Impact: Next time, learners will test how well different materials protect against impact.

Level Up! (Optional)

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

• To give learners more context about this hazard, show the video Extreme Temperatures in Space (1:17 min. video length). Read the Educator Science Background for more information.

• The Artemis III astronauts are the first humans to return to the Moon since the Apollo era and NASA chose the South Polar region of the Moon for their landing site. This area is known for having some of the coldest temperatures in the entire Solar System, even colder than Pluto! Check out this article to learn more about the Mission Objectives of the Artemis III mission: “Moon’s South Pole is Full of Mystery, Science, Intrigue – NASA” (10 min.)

• If learners would benefit from an additional visual of the testing procedure, play How to Design & Test Space Gloves (0:26–1:00).

• Explain that “cold” describes something that has a lot less heat energy than the things around it. Heat energy always moves from warmer places to colder places. So, “protects against cold” means “slows the transfer of heat energy.” Materials that slow the transfer of heat energy are called insulators. For example, when you’re outside on a hot day and you put your hand on the metal bar of a playground, it feels really hot because metal is a poor insulator. Put your hand on something at the playground made of wood, and it doesn’t feel nearly as hot because wood is a pretty good insulator. Show a NASA video about Artemis insulation, NASA Crews Spray Foam Insulation on Artemis III Rocket Hardware (1:26), and discuss why insulation is important for rockets. (5 min.)

• Refer to the Engineering Design Process (PDF) 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 cold.) (5 min.)

• Ask this story prompt: Can you tell me a story about something creative you did to keep warm when it got really cold? Tell learners, if anyone asks what they did today, they can tell them “we tested materials to protect from cold in a bucket of ice,” and then ask them the above story prompt. Consider returning to learners’ ideas at the start of the next adventure. (5 min.)