Design a football kit to use on the moon

It is likely in the future that mankind will be able to play football on other planets. In this KS3 teaching resource activity learners will make use of the theme of football on the Moon to design a kit for the first Moon-based football team: Moon United.

They will discuss the problems associated with playing football on the Moon. They will then produce a labelled sketch of their design idea to meet the given design brief and criteria.

This classroom activity could be used as a main lesson activity to teach about designing textile and graphics-based products in context, and the use of new technologies within designs. It could also be used as part of wider scheme of learning focussed on the design process.

We’ve created this teaching resource design activity to support the delivery of key topics within design & technology (D&T) and engineering.

Activity: Designing and evaluating a football kit for the first football team on the moon

Learners will be introduced to the theme of playing football on the Moon and the potential problems that could be faced when doing this.

Learners will then sketch and label their design idea for a football kit that can be used by Moon United to play football on the Moon. Learners will evaluate how well their design meets the design criteria.

Tools/supplies needed:

Resources required:

• Pens, pencils and coloured pencils
• A3 or A4 paper

Follow our step-by-step guide on how to design a football kit for the first football team on the moon

Brief – Use your skills, creativity and imagination to design a home football kit for Moon United.

Criteria - Your design must include a badge design for team Moon United, colours and items that you like or that show your personality and a special element, gadget or tech feature that would make your kit perfect for playing on the Moon.

Considerations

Originality: How original is your idea?

Creativity: How creative is your idea?

Engineering: What makes your kit perfect for the Moon and different from an Earth football kit?

Personality: How does the design bring to life the things you love?

Example - Images from IET Moon United 2023 competition and campaign

Evaluation

Evaluate how well your design meets the design criteria:

• Which points does it meet? How?
• Which points does it not meet? Why?
• How could you improve your design?

Possible extension

• Design an away kit for Moon United
• Design a football pitch for Moon United to play on
• Design a home kit for a new football team based on Mars – Mars Rovers

The Engineering Context

Travelling and potentially living on the Moon presents all sorts of challenges for engineers to overcome. For example, how will we breathe, how will we cope with much lower gravity, how will we play sports and keep fit?

Suggested learning outcomes

This resource combines design and technology with engineering with the aim that the learners will be able to understand the problems associated with playing football on the Moon and be able to design a home football kit for the first football team to play on the Moon.

Download our activity sheet and other teaching resources

All classroom activity sheets and supporting teaching resources are free to download, and all the documents are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs.

The activity sheet includes teachers’ notes, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

You can download our step-by-step instructions below as either a classroom lesson plan or PowerPoint presentation.

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