Square Peg in a Round Hole Activity Resources

This activity was presented at the 2020 Space Exploration Educators' Conference!

The name is based on the Apollo 13 situation trying to develop a solution to filter the carbon dioxide. The activity simulates the communication between astronauts and Mission Controllers. My students used Flipgrid.

Students work in small groups (2-4 people) and switch between the roles. Mission Controllers give directions to astronauts. Astronauts follow the directions, ask for clarifications and update Mission Control with their progress. Time depends on the age of your students, familiarity with Flipgrid and class length. I did this best to do this over a few days.

Pages 1 - 7 Student Logbook -> Recommend printing double sided

Page 1 - Mission Brief

Page 2 - Communication background

Page 3 - Mission Overview

Page 4 - Mission Control Guidebook

Page 5 - Astronaut Guidebook

Pages 6 - 7** Questions for students to answer while awaiting video transmission from group members. ** Recommend printing separately

Mission Control Wakelet Link = http://bit.ly/Missioncontrol

Collection of resources (video clips, articles, etc) for reflection questions

Page 8 - Optional extension activity - Discussion/reflections questions

Page 9 - 18 Icons with descriptions - **TEACHER USE**

Print these pages single sided. You ONLY need one copy of these pages . Recommend cutting icons separately and laminating for durability and future use. Mission Controllers will pick one of these from the teacher to borrow and return.

All icons are from the Noun Project and used under Creative Commons license. All citations are embedded in the images.