Bionic Hand - Building a bionic hand | Teach with space PR34
In this activity, pupils will build a bionic hand made out of cardboard, strings, straws and rubber bands. They will relate the bionic hand to their own hand to understand the function of the fingers and the importance of the thumb, to grab or hold objects with different shapes and forms. Pupils will also learn that it would not be possible to move the human hand if it was only composed of bones. The pupils will understand how bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments work, by comparing them with the materials used on the bionic hand to move the fingers.
This activity is prepared for 60-90 minutes, depending on the age of the pupils. However, this resource can be proposed as part of a classroom project; encompassing other subjects of study such as arts, language, and the human body.
- Understand how the human hand works.
- Learn that science and medicine use bionic prosthetics to substitute parts of the human body that are not working properly or are missing.
- Learn that scientists use the human body as inspiration to build tools, such as hands and arms in hostile environments like space or the deep ocean.
Explore and test ideas building a simple machine (bionic hand) in a group
This classroom resource is part of a set of resources developed by ESA’s Education Office in collaboration with ESEROs to support the Moon Camp project.
This Airbus Foundation Discovery Space animation explains how robots could help astronauts settling on the Moon. For more animations visit this page.
- Arts, Science
- Age 6-12, Age 6-9
- Up to 1 hour, Up to 2 hours
- Human Spaceflight, Space Technology
English