Starting STEM education as early as possible is the idea behind the new challenge from ELO2, the consortium behind Australia’s first lunar rover.
Drawing on consortium member One Giant Leap Australia’s expertise with educational outreach programs, the ELO2 Little Dipper Challenge invites children aged 5-12 years old to experiment with common materials found at home or school in a creative project about space.
The mission is to build and test a scoop, like the one that will be on the Australian lunar rover, to collect soil from the Moon.
The Australian Space Agency’s Moon to Mars Trailblazer program is a partnership with NASA to develop a rover that will collect and transfer lunar regolith (Moon dust) to a special facility to turn it into oxygen.
The oxygen can be used for astronauts to breathe in space, and it can also be used as fuel for rockets and other spacecraft. The result being that we will be able to establish a long-term presence on the Moon and explore space further than we ever have before.
Landing an Australian rover on the lunar surface will highlight the kind of space and STEM endeavours that children can aspire to, creating a ‘where were you’ moment that hasn’t been seen since Australia played a crucial role in helping NASA bring TV images of the first Moonwalk to the world in 1969.
ELO2 is developing a preliminary design for the rover and wants to use this opportunity to capture the imagination of the Australian community and excite kids to have fun with science.
“This challenge will engage primary school-aged kids and get them interested in space,” said EPE’s Director Innovation and Commercialisation, Ben Sorensen. “Australia’s future prosperity in space depends on our kids, and also that a good bunch of them get inspired to choose a STEM pathway from any early age.”
In the challenge, kids will learn from ELO2 engineers about the Moon’s environment and what it takes to design and test their inventions. By using everyday materials like Lego, recycled plastics, cardboard, and ice cream sticks, primary school aged children can create and test their very own scoop designs in homemade lunar regolith (Moon dust).
“We are using an online platform so the challenge is accessible to any child across Australia. The Little Dipper Challenge aims to encourage kids’ creativity and help inspire our younger generation to learn more about science and space exploration,” said Joseph Kenrick, Program Manager at Lunar Outpost Oceania.
“Our aim is to provide an amazing opportunity that encourages rich and authentic play with a foundation in STEM – a vitally important building block that enables children to engage,” said Jackie Carpenter, Director at One Giant Leap Australia Foundation.
“Harnessing an interest in STEM is important in early learning and school years. In fact, some students lose interest in STEM by age 6 and gender biases are formed at age ~4.”
The ELO2 Little Dipper Challenge opens on Monday 13 November 2023 and closes on Friday 1 March 2024.
The challenge is open to everyone and can be found on the consortium website (www.elo2.au). It can be done at home with parents, at school, with friends, and in school holiday programs. Participants will receive Certificates of Completion and potential for their project to be featured on ELO2 social media platforms.
