Project EXOZOO – Space Design Challenge

A creative end-of-term STEM project that gets students thinking like scientists, engineers and designers.

Project EXOZOO is a two-lesson Space Design Challenge in which students work in teams to design the world’s first extraterrestrial zoo. Students create four original alien species before designing a safe, sustainable habitat capable of keeping both the aliens and visitors alive.

Students become a design company competing for a fictional construction contract. Throughout the challenge they must apply science knowledge to justify their decisions, considering atmospheres, materials, life-support systems, power generation, temperature, water requirements and habitat design.

The resource is ideal as an engaging end-of-topic, end-of-term, STEM Day or cover lesson activity for Year 9, Year 10 or Year 11, but could also be adapted for higher-attaining Key Stage 3 classes.

This download includes:

• Complete teacher PowerPoint presentation
• Student challenge worksheet
• Alien profile template
• Zoo schematic inspiration sheet
• Presentation/interviewer marking sheet
• Full-colour promotional poster
• Zoo planning, marketing, visitor experience and engineering worksheets (KS4)

Students will:

• Design four unique alien species (four provided for teachers who would like to focus on map design).
• Create a detailed space zoo map (map schematic available for adapting the lesson to discuss why the map provided is ideal for the aliens in the ppt).
• Consider scientific and engineering constraints
• Work collaboratively in design teams
• Present and defend their ideas to a judging panel

The activity encourages creativity, communication, teamwork, problem-solving and scientific thinking while giving students an opportunity to apply their chemistry knowledge in a completely different context.

Suitable for:

GCSE Chemistry or Biology
STEM enrichment
Science clubs
Cover lessons
End-of-term activities
Project-based learning

If you use it with your students, I’d love to hear how they get on!
I used generative AI to help design the artwork used in this lesson - based on my own novel design. Your students may also wish to put photos of their hand drawn aliens / maps into AI to generate a cinematic image of their Exozoo.