Understanding the hazards of space weather on crewed and robotic missions is vital to informing plans for NASA's Journey to Mars and other missions into our solar system, and beyond.
Students are challenged to design and build wind chimes using their knowledge of physics and sound waves, and under given constraints such as weight, cost and number of musical notes it must generate. They make mathematical computations to determine the pipe lengths.
Students go through the design process and the scientific process to test the effect of blade design on power output. There is an optional extension to use the data to create an optimal set of wind turbine blades.
In addition to the associated lesson, this activity functions as a summative assessment for the Using Stress and Strain to Detect Cancer unit. In this activity, students will create a 1-D strain plot in Microsoft Excel depicting the location of a breast tumor amidst healthy tissue. The results of this activity will function as proof of the accuracy and reliability of the students' breast cancer detection design.
Students investigate passive solar building design with a focus on heating. Insulation, window placement, thermal mass, surface colors, and site orientation are addressed in the background materials and design preparation. Students test their projects for thermal gains and losses during a simulated day and night then compare designs with other teams for suggestions for improvements.