ScienceEngineeringMath

Space Habitat Startup

Grades 6-875-90 minSource: Creative Dad Company

Students start a pretend space habitat company. They must budget every gram of mass, watt of energy, liter of water, and calorie of food for a small crew, then defend their design against a system failure. It is real engineering with limits and very high stakes.

Budget levels

Amazon prices checked Oct 9-10, 2026 and may change

The brief lists no new materials.

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change. As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Quick Start

Digital downloads only.

$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.

Student time: one class period, one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one class period on a single day.

Scale back: Fit it into a shorter period, use fewer effects, or run a demo instead of a build.

Scale up: Add one extra effect, or spread the share-out across another day.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

No new materials (per brief)use what you have

Full Experience

Required materials for the class.

$0 per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one school day.

Scale back: Fit the build into one period with fewer effects.

Scale up: Spread the work across days, or add more effects.

Total Transformation

The bigger kit, with every optional item included.

$0 per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day (one session, one-day event).

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one session, a one-day event.

Scale back: Shorten the event, or run a demo for a smaller audience.

Scale up: Spread the build and the event across days, or invite a bigger audience.

Materials

Sample supply cards; Kitchen scale; Reliable source on astronaut daily needs; Paper for the budget

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change.

As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Sample supply cards
Sample supply cards
No link
Digital kitchen scale
Kitchen scale
Shop
Paper
Paper for the budget
No link

Steps

Research the real daily needs of an astronaut (about 0.8 kg of oxygen, 3 liters of water, 2,500 calories) and explain why the body needs each.
Write a design brief with precise criteria (keeps 4 crew alive for 30 days, 10 percent safety margin on every resource) and constraints (maximum launch mass, solar power limit in watts, storage volume, no waste dumped outside the habitat). Cite the science behind each number.
Build a full resource budget, weighing sample supply cards on a kitchen scale to check it fits the mass constraint.
Note impacts on people and environment: what happens to crew health if a resource drops below its limit, and how waste is handled.
Trigger a failure, like a broken water recycler, and check whether your criteria and constraints still allow a solution. Rework the budget with backup supplies.
Pitch the habitat and its design brief to an investor panel and defend every number with the science.

Standards mapped

NGSS · MS-ETS1-1
Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.