Creative Dad CompanyCreative Dad Company
EngineeringArtScience

Future Fashion Survival Lab

Log in to save
Grades 3-560-90 minSource: Creative Dad Company

Kids imagine a future climate, whether scorching, flooded, or freezing, then design and test a piece of wearable gear that would actually help someone survive it. It's a creative fashion challenge grounded in real material testing.

Choose your version

Every level teaches the same core idea — pick the one that fits your time, budget, and energy today.

Prep: 10 minActivity: 45 min1 session~$2/groupOne table or a clear section of floorBeginner-friendly

Setup

Place common or recycled supplies for Future Fashion Survival Lab on one work surface and choose a safe area for the test. Read the four activity directions aloud; drawings, paper models, and household substitutes may replace specialized materials, and no digital tool is required.

Activity

  1. Choose a future climate scenario and predict which materials would best protect a person from its specific hazards.
  2. Build a wearable piece of survival gear using the chosen protective materials.
  3. Test the gear against a simulated hazard, like a spray of rain or an ice pack for cold, then redesign a part when it fails to protect the wearer.
  4. Present the final survival gear on a model to the class, explaining how each part addresses the future climate's dangers.

Done when: The group produces the Future Fashion Survival Lab solution, completes the described test, makes the revision called for by the evidence, and supports its final explanation with an observed or measured result.

Materials

fabric scraps, aluminum foil, foam sheets, tape, a mannequin or stuffed figure to model the gear, spray bottle or ice for testing

Shown for the Quick Start version — switch tabs above to see what changes.

Disclosure: Materials links below go to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Steps

  1. Choose a future climate scenario and predict which materials would best protect a person from its specific hazards.
  2. Build a wearable piece of survival gear using the chosen protective materials.
  3. Test the gear against a simulated hazard, like a spray of rain or an ice pack for cold, then redesign a part when it fails to protect the wearer.
  4. Present the final survival gear on a model to the class, explaining how each part addresses the future climate's dangers.

Standards it satisfies

  • NGSS · 5-PS1-3

    Make observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties.