NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

How do NASA nutritionist’s record, analyze, and interpret data to prepare astronaut food for a mission to Mars?

This module is appropriate for video conference AND web conference presentation.

Someday, humans will travel to the planet Mars or near Earth Asteroids. Their journey will be the most ambitious space mission ever. Going to Mars will be far more challenging than going to the Moon. In order to feed a crew of four for the six – nine month trip every bit of food needed will have to be packed onboard. No matter how desperate the crews become in transit, they can’t send out for a pizza delivery. In this module students will analyze food contamination, determine serving sizes based on food labels and recommended serving per astronaut, and calculate the percent change between estimated and recommended serving sizes.

Sequence of Events

Among the thousands of questions that need to be answered before astronauts travel to distant planets and asteroids are questions related to the astronauts themselves. How much food will they need and what foods can they take? Fortunately, both water and air can be recycled; where food is another matter. Every bit of food needed will have to be packed on board. Through this series of lessons, your students will gain a better understanding of what it takes to prepare and package food for a long space voyage.

Click on the links below to download the following activity and videos to use with your class:

•     Activity – “Always Wash Your End Effector”    

•     Video 1 – Nutrition on the Space Station    

•     Video 2 – Eating on the Space Station    

During the event, students will estimate serving sizes of different foods and compare the student's estimates to serving size information provided on “Nutrition Facts” food labels.

Additionally, they will calculate the percent of change between their estimated serving size and the recommended serving size. The coordinator will inquire about student’s understanding of “What will it takes to prepare and package food for a long space voyage?”

Click on the links below to download the following activity and videos to use with your class:

•     Activity – “What is a Serving Size”    

•     Video 1 – Food for a Long Mission to Mars    

•     Video 2 – Making a Meal    

Engage students in discussions regarding which foods should be taken to Mars. Use the following activities to:

•     Construct and use calorimeters to measure the kilo-calories (energy) contained in several food samples.

•     Learn and practice safety procedures during their testing.

Click the following links to access the activity and related video:

•     “Which Foods Should We Take to Mars?”           

•     Video – Steps to Construct a Calorimeter           

Standards

(5-8)

Science Content Standard A: Science as Inquiry

•     Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry

•     develop understandings about scientific inquiry

Science Content Standard C: Life Science

•     Structure and function of living organisms

•     Regulation and behavior

Common Core Mathematics Content Standard: Numbers and Operations

•     Perform operations with multi-digit whole numbers and with decimals to hundredths

•     Compute fluently and make reasonable estimates

Common Core Mathematics Content Standard: Operations and Algebraic Thinking

•     Write and interpret numerical expressions

•     Analyze patterns and relationships