CREST Anybody Out There.doc

Space: Is there anybody out there? CREST Awards project

For further information visit our website www.britishscienceassociation.org/crest

CREST Bronze Award – typically 10 hours of project work

Project: To investigate the changing chemical composition of water from a newly

set-up fish-tank As life evolved in the sea, we must be able to analyse the water from a likely planet to see

if it is capable of supporting life. There are lots of simple chemical tests that can be carried

out on a water sample to test its composition. In this project, you‟ll monitor water samples

from an aquarium over a period of time.

Getting started: Use the Internet to find out about the types of chemical tests that can be carried out

on water from a fish tank. You will need to get access to these kits before you start –

you may have to ask your teacher for some help.

Read the instructions supplied with the kits to work out how to do the tests (make sure

you carry out a “risk assessment” and have it checked by your teacher – see the

health and safety box at the bottom of this project).

Set up a fish tank. You will need a suitable filter system (like an under gravel filter), some

gravel and an air pump.

If you can, prime the tank with some water from near the gravel of an existing, mature

fish tank.

Perform each chemical test and record your findings.

NOTE: remember to wash your hands after touching the aquarium water and chemicals.

Going further Repeat each chemical test every one or two days for a period of about three weeks. Use

a spreadsheet programme to record your results and present them in graphical form.

Your Results What happened to the levels of each chemical over the course of the experiment?

Do you think the levels of some of the chemicals are dependent on each other?

Which of the chemicals are beneficial (to the fish in the tank)?

Which are harmful?

How could the tests be automated so that they could be carried out by a space

probe?



CREST Silver Award – typically 30 hours of project work

Project: To design a lander for a robot space probe For this project you‟re going to simulate a robotic exploration of Mars and design a lander

for a robot space probe. There are two main parts to this project, and a third „extension‟

activity if you have the time:

1. You need to select an appropriate landing site on Mars – a good place for

exploration. This will require research into the planet, and previous attempts to

explore it, so you can decide on the best place.

2. You need to design a lander so a robot probe can safely land on Mars – it‟s got to

remain in one piece if you want it to explore the planet!

The landing site

First, you need to select your landing site. Try searching the internet for relevant websites.

What sorts of interesting land formations are there on Mars, and what might an

investigation of these tell us?

What sorts of rocks and minerals might be found?

Where might you find a source of water?

Where do you think is the best place to find signs of life?

You need to decide what the main aim of your mission will be. You could produce some

sort of presentation – perhaps using PowerPoint – to show potential experts (who will have

to OK your decision) where you wish to land, and why. Use pictures of the site and say

what potential answers you may have after the investigation, and what possible problems

you may encounter.

Make sure you can show that your research is worthwhile! No-one will pay millions of

pounds to find out if robots can dance on Mars.

Designing your lander For this part of the project you will design and carry out tests on different landing systems.

You must not use parachutes. The landing systems will need to protect the robot for its last

15 feet of the decent. You can use raw eggs instead (or the project would be rather

expensive!). Inspect the egg for damage after the drop. A small crack or chip could

mean, for example, that the robot might lose a wheel. If it‟s totally smashed, you can

The lander might also land on the side of a slope, so you could try dropping it down stairs

to see if it withstands that sort of bumpy ride. When the lander comes to a stop it should

be in an upright position.

The robot space probe As mentioned in the introduction to this project, designing a space probe may have to be

theoretical (in other words, design it and make suggestions about materials used, etc.).

Look at the Gold project idea in this section for further guidance about actually building a

robot.

Some of the things you‟ll need to think about when designing the robot probe are:

It will need to travel over different types of terrain.

It will need to collect samples (the type of sample will depend on your chosen landing

site).

It needs to be able to return the samples to the rover.

It should be able to collect other data. For example, the temperature, light and

humidity of the landing site.



CREST Gold Award – typically 70+ hours of project work

Project: To build your own robot space probe. Every space probe deployed so far has been a robot. Most have been static probes

operating only where they landed, but more recent missions, such as the Mars Pathfinder

Probe, have been able to move around to a limited extent – the Mars Pathfinder

contained a small robot buggy called Sojourner. For this project you should design and

build a small working robot that could be used for space exploration.

You should start by carrying out some research – perhaps using the internet – to find out

about the various sorts of robots used in space missions:

What do they do? What is their purpose?

How are they controlled?

What differences are there between a robot that needs to operate in space, and

one that operates here on Earth?

You could try contacting companies that make automated machinery and robots. You

may be able to work with a company that has some involvement with making space

probes.

Things to think about: Do you want your robot to be static or moving?

Will your robot be remotely controlled, controlled by wire, or automatic?

What task(s) will your robot do? Make sure you give full explanations for your robot‟s

tasks – it might seem like fun to make it jump up and down and do a summersault,

but that‟s not going to help find facts about a planet!

What electrical components circuitry do you need? How will you join it together? For

example, you may need to find out about techniques such as soldering, or find out

how to make a printed circuit board (pcb).

What will the robot‟s casing be made from? You may like to conduct some materials

tests to see which materials are most suitable; think about the different temperatures

in space – will your robot be able to cope?

What will the other components be made from? If, for example, the robot has

something that scrapes samples from rocks, it will need to be hard, so it will scratch

other materials and not be damaged itself. You may wish to carry out some materials

tests to help these decisions.

You could also try to write an Artificial Intelligence programme to help control your

robot – see the BA CREST Gold project idea for Entertainment / Games Consoles and

Robots.

Testing your robot

When you have completed your robot, you need to test how effective it is. How will you

design experiments to test its effectiveness?

What task did you design it to do? How good is it at doing this task?

How do you think that robot space probes are controlled? What extra problems

would a robot space probe have to face that an Earth-based robot would not?



Health & Safety considerations

When you carry out experiments make sure you:

(a) find out if any of the substances used or made, or any of the equipment or procedures

are hazardous

(b) carry out a risk assessment (in other words, think about what could go wrong and how

serious it might be)

(c) decide what steps you need to take, if any, to reduce the risks. For example, by

wearing personal protective equipment, being aware of how to deal with any

emergencies and so on

(d) make sure your teacher checks your plans and risk assessment before practical work

starts

(e) if special tools or machines are needed, these should be used in a properly supervised

workshop or D&T room.

NOTE: Your teacher will check your risk assessment against that of his/her employer (i.e.

your school or LEA). If no risk assessment exists for your activity, your teacher may need to

obtain a special risk assessment (e.g. by contacting the CLEAPPS School Science Service.)

This may take some time.

Documents

CREST Anybody Out There.doc