By Pravin Carthic & Pradyumna Choudhari
Space travel and research had fascinated humans for long. One of the important parts of it was establishing a space station. With the setting up of ISS (International Space Station), this was realised to some extent. Over the past many years, various experiments conducted in ISS have proven to be far useful on earth than imagined. We drew inspiration from ISS for our school project. Our goal is to ensure sustainability of human race in extreme events.
Following were our steps in the project
1
Research various techniques to sustain humans just away from earth, a little farther from Moon
2
Research vehicles to take humans far away and return to Earth whenever needed
3
Understand how human mobility within and outside the space hub can be enabled
4
Create ideas for robots
5
Research how to build robust communication at all times
Our Lines of Enquiry were
- Space and its surroundings
- Space science for human safety and climate change
- The impact of creating a parallel living space
Our Solution is to have a very large Space Station to hold many thousands of humans and have pods that can go to Earth and return with humans during search and rescue operations. These pods can be used during both man-made and natural disasters. This involves complex communications, powerful rockets, long duration human stay in Space and Space Station technologies.
Our key concepts were: Form, Function and Responsibility. Our teachers, also our mentors, made us think on following questions
How did I use research skills in this unit/for this piece of work?
We used various sources of information like Wikipedia, NASA, ISRO, JAXA, ESA, etc. We read about various missions undertaken by the space agencies and the experiments conducted by them. It is useful to gather information from their previous experiments so that we can research on more topics.
How did I use thinking skills in this unit/for this piece of work?
We discussed our ideas on zoom calls and used collaboration tools like Padlets, emails to exchange notes and ideas. We took inspiration from sci-fi novels, real life readings and talking to our family. Our thinking has been very different from the regular approach towards sustainability
How did I use self-management skills in this unit/for this piece of work?
We came up with the idea, enquired for knowledge gathering, organised our topics and put it out for our project
Who did I collaborate with and how in this unit/for this piece of work?
Both of us collaborated with each other and also reached out to our families for help. Our teachers are also our mentors.
How did I use communication skills in this unit/for this piece of work?
We used our email etiquettes well, stuck to simple use of language and limited the scientific terminology to absolute necessities. We also were able to write concisely, prepare presentations and organised our thoughts.
Which IB Learner Profile attributes did I demonstrate or strengthen in this unit/for this piece of work?
Inquirer, Knowledgeable, Empathetic
How might I take-action inspired by what I have learnt during this unit?
We will reach out to various organisations to explore prototype building
What other perspectives did I explore in this unit?
Sustainability is not just making Earth living better; It is also about having a plan B and providing options during climate disasters
How did this unit/piece of work help me better understand the unit’s global context?
Climate change is real. It will impact each country and region differently but the overall global impact of it will be equal. But science, especially Space science, can provide alternate means to ensure human race sustenance.
How did this unit/piece of work help me better understand the unit’s key and/or related concept(s)?
Since we approached the concept differently, we were able to learn more topics than what we originally thought.
How did I help others during this unit/when completing this piece of work?
Both of us helped each other completing this task and I also helped others with my ideas.
What are the most interesting discoveries I learnt during this unit/when completing this piece of work?
We learnt a lot about actual experiments done, the current limitations of technology and human limitations in space. Of all things, the most interesting discovery is about impact of space stay on human muscle strength and other bodily functions.
What surprised me most during this unit/ when completing this piece of work?
I was surprised by the fact that many scientific / technology innovations that were done for Space research are of extensive use in daily life. Space Science has contributed a lot to sustainability on Earth.
What is the most important thing I learnt during this unit/when completing this piece of work?
Any scientific or technological pursuit is a team work.
What moments am I most proud of my efforts in this unit/when completing this piece of work?
I am proud of the fact that I discovered how much more is there to learn in science.
What would I change about this piece of work or my contributions to this unit?
If we had more time, we would be able to present a more detailed design of prototype we want to build.
What would I do differently if I were to approach the same unit/piece of work again?
Nothing much. Maybe we would have re-arranged the order of research we did.
Could I effectively teach what I learnt in this unit to someone else? Why/Why not?
I can and we will. We already are sharing our knowledge on Space science and sustainability to our friends.
How will I use what I’ve learned in the future?
We intend to pursue learning in Space science. This is our start of such learning.
Based on this unit/piece of work, what do I want to learn more about?
There is a lot of research to be done in this field. We want to learn more about upcoming missions and possible search and rescue scenarios.
When did I feel more creative in this unit/when completing this piece of work?
Always. We feel we can be more creative later. At the start, we had variety of ideas. Then we had many ideas about specific topics. While completing our research, we had many ideas about building prototype.
When did I feel most challenged in this unit/when completing this piece of work?
In every stage we were challenged because there is a lot more to learn. But the most challenging was at the start, when we had to decide on the solution itself.
What did I find most difficult in this unit/when completing this piece of work?
Understanding maths and science related to the topic. As 10-year olds, we are still learning many concepts.
What can I do with what I have learnt during this unit/when completing this piece of work?
We will explore more on this topic to make it a reality.
What was my favourite part of the unit/piece of work?
Our core idea is our favourite. We enjoyed coming up with the idea.
How does something I learnt in this unit/when completing this piece of work that I can connect with something I already know?
We already knew about Climate Change; we already knew about sustainability challenges (UNDP goal #15) and we already knew basics of space stations. We were able to learn more and relate to all these topics.
How can I apply something I learnt in this unit/when completing this piece of work to another class/subject?
Our research is a multi-disciplinary one and so, we can apply our learning to numeracy and science.
How can I apply something I learnt in this unit/when completing this piece of work to my life outside of school?
We can educate people about Climate change and the Scientific challenges in providing alternate solutions, in addition to mitigating Climate change.
How can I apply something I learnt in this unit/when completing this piece of work in the future?
I will use this as my area of research in future.
What questions do I still have about this unit?
We want to know more about how other topics of sustainability can co-exist with our approach.
How would I explain what I learnt during this unit/when completing this piece of work to someone in the grade below?
We will simplify the approach and as mentioned earlier, we will also limit the scientific terminology used.
How would I explain what I learnt during this unit/when completing this piece of work to an adult?
We will brief them about what we researched, share our notes and reference links.
If I was creating a quiz based on this unit/piece of work, what two questions would I include?
Q1: How will our rescue pods return to space station?
Q2: How will our Space station determine where to dock and where to move to?
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