Attendees will engage in an interdisciplinary, content-rich, complex, and collaborative design and construction process that culminates in the development of an exciting and compelling physical structure. Attendees will first engage in an exploratory learning activity where they investigate the challenges associated with space travel and inhabitation, drawing on contemporary resources, videos, and articles from the real world. Drawing on the insights and knowledge gained from the exploratory activity, attendees will collaborate and negotiate as a full group to determine key design principles that are relevant to a Mars habitat. Next, attendees will work in small teams to design and construct true-to-scale inflatable habitats based on their designs. Teams will be given a large roll of plastic tablecloth, scissors, packing tape, and other supplies with which to design and construct their habitat.
This project is inspired by a project I did as a high school mathematics teacher for seven years. To learn more about my project, you can go here:
https://patch.com/illinois/evanston/giant-inflatables-replace-problem-sets-in-this-geometry-class
