Presentation of Learning: Studying Space at the OC Studio

Americans have been spending a great deal of time in space lately—whether it’s astronaut Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who unexpectedly remained in orbit on the International Space station for nine months, or the all-female crew of Blue Origin, including rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics research scientist Amanda Nguyen, and even Katy Perry, who experienced 11 minutes at the near edge of space just last week.

Last year at the OC Studio, TK-3 learners were ahead of the trend and spent last year learning all about space.

As a culminating event for the TK-3 group, the learners practiced design thinking and the engineering process as they learned about satellites and designed satellite models. To spark interest in the project, an engineer who worked on satellite electronics spoke to the learners about different types of satellites and discussed the process of designing and building satellites.

Over the next few class periods, learners planned, designed, and tested satellite models. Each satellite needed a minimum of four components: a bus, a payload, an antenna, and a power source.

Once the satellite models were completed, learners gave their models shake tests to see if the components could hold together under pressure–just as a real satellite must survive the force of a launch.

If the satellites didn’t hold up, learners problem-solved ways to make their satellites more sturdy. Some older learners further challenged themselves to see if they could build models with collapsible parts to mimic how real satellites have parts that fold up to fit within a rocket’s nose cone.

After completing their satellite models, learners wrote an informational card about the satellite, and some learners went further and wrote poems during writing class to display with their satellites. They presented their projects at an event that parents, peers, and some very special guests attended.

TK-3 Resources

• Sci Show Kids: What is a Satellite?
• Epic Digital Book: Artificial Satellites
• Watch: Satellite Shake Test
• Watch: Starship Launch Test
• BrainPop: Engineering Process
• Satellite Parts Labeling Worksheet
• Satellite Design Plan Worksheet
• About My Satellite (to mount on a card for presentation)
• Haiku Planning Sheet & Presentation Sheet for Satellite/Space Haiku

Next Generation Science Standards: Engineering Design K-2

• Ask questions based on observations to find more information about the natural and/or designed world. (K-2- ETS1-1)
• Develop a simple model based on evidence to represent a proposed object or tool. (K-2-ETS1-2)