Classroom Setup

Want to be an Astronaut?: Classroom Setup

The Want to be an Astronaut e-Lab is designed to accommodate 25 students.

The students should be divided into five teams with at least 5 students on each team. They will work collaboratively throughout the e-Lab. Team names are Team A, Team B, Team C, Team D, and Team E.

Within each team, each student will be given a title and a specific job to be completed during the e-Lab. The titles and jobs are:

Mission Specialist – will share the mission patch (the students created during a pre-lab activity) and explain the creation process
Fitness Coach – will be challenged by the Flight Director to accomplish a task related to fitness exercises and participate in the discussion of these topics
Equipment Designer – will participate in discussion about tools that were created for the astronauts to use in space
Glove Technician – will participate in the discussion of the creation of the space suit gloves and be challenged by the Flight Director to complete a simple task wearing a pair of gloves (provided by teacher).
Science Officer – will demonstrate how certain toys (provided by the teacher) operate on Earth and then make predictions about how the same toy will operate in space.

Please assign your students to the jobs listed above. For your convenience a team/job-tracking sheet has been provided. Job cards for the students to hold during the e-Lab (to remind them of their job) are also provided and are color-coded. Feel free to print on white paper with the font color coded – or – print on the color paper to match the font.

Team / Job Assignment Recording Sheet
Astronaut Job Cards

There should be 5 different areas in the classroom for each team. This can be created by putting the desks together or using tables, if they are available.

During the lab we will ask some of your students to interact with the Flight Director to complete a task. Therefore, we ask the teacher to provide the following items:

Each Glove Technician (5 students) will need a pair of gloves (the thicker the better) and some small objects you have in your classroom – like 8 pennies, 8 unifix cubes, 4 nuts and 4 bolts, etc.
One of each of the following toys – spinning top, jump rope, yoyo, soccer ball, and marbles.

** If any or all of these materials are unable to be obtained please let your Flight Director know as soon as you connect on your mission day.