Moon Tower Solar Panel STEM Engineering Challenge (Digital Journals)
Your astronaut crew has just landed on the Moon! Before you go out exploring, we need to build a welcome tower. The tower will include a light that will help guide your crew back to base.
Grades: 5th - 9th, Homeschool
Teaching Duration: 90 minutes
Your astronaut crew has just landed on the Moon! Before you go out exploring, we need to build a welcome tower. The tower will include a light that will help guide your crew back to base.
Grades: 5th - 9th, Homeschool
Teaching Duration: 90 minutes
Your astronaut crew has just landed on the Moon! Before you go out exploring, we need to build a welcome tower. The tower will include a light that will help guide your crew back to base.
Grades: 5th - 9th, Homeschool
Teaching Duration: 90 minutes
“I used this with my 5th graders to prepare them and teach them what solar panels are how they are used. This prepared them for visiting a solar power farm in Jackson, TN. Excellent resource! ”
lesson overview
Moon Welcome Tower STEM Engineering Design Challenge
Your mission: Your astronaut crew has just landed on the Moon! Before you go out exploring, we need to build a welcome tower. The tower will include a light that will help guide your crew back to base. The activity includes building a circuit with a switch to turn on an LED light that is powered by a coin cell battery or solar panel.
Supports Distance Learning: An instructional video guides students through the design challenge along with an interview with a NASA systems integration engineer. Also include editable Google Slides for a digital or printed STEM Journal.
Science background: Students learn about the science of circuits and solar panels.
Engineering Challenge: Using common materials such as aluminum foil and construction paper, students design a tower to hold up a sign that has an LED light. A power source will be needed, either a coin cell battery or a 2V solar panel. A full teacher guide includes an instructional video, photos of student projects, and resources. The packet also includes handouts to guide your students through the engineering design process to solve the challenge.
STEM Real-World Connections: Background pages discussion relevant careers include Electrical Engineer, Mechanical Engineer, and Chemical Engineers. An overview of NASA's mission to Moon is included in handouts and in an instructional video featuring a NASA systems integration engineer.
As with many STEM activities that are student-driven, this challenge can be tailored to students of various skill levels and abilities.
Included in this product:
Detailed teachers guide with links to resources
Instructional video
Grading rubric for the engineering design process
STEM Career Connections
STEM Real-world Connection
Real-world STEM history and science handouts
Student handouts to guide them through the engineering design process
Editable Google Slides for a STEM Journal
Instructional STEM video with mechanical engineering and virologist
Math extension problems
Looking for more STEM lessons? Find the Vivify resource guide here: bit.ly/VivifyResourceGuide
