DiscoverE
Spaceship to Mars
Feel like a rocket scientist for the day. Using only paper and tape, scholars create a framework for a spaceship to Mars. Each sheet of paper costs $10 million and each piece of tape costs $100,000. Make sure you stay within budget!
Curated OER
Exploring the Solar System: All About Spacecraft/Spaceflight
Rarely do you find resources that reach high school astronomy learners. Here is something at their level! The physics of flyby missions is explained via several examples. Landing, penetrating, and roving spacecraft are examined. Diagrams...
Curated OER
Designing a Crew Exploration Vehicle
Take your class on an out-of-this-world adventure with this fun engineering design lesson. Working in small groups, young scientists design, build, and test crew exploration vehicles using some creativity, teamwork, and an assortment of...
Curated OER
Edible Mars Spacecraft
Fourth graders identify the Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Pathfinder and the rover, Sojourner.
Curated OER
Space Flight Simulation
High schoolers engage in the study of flight with the help of a computer flight simulation. They take part in a variety of activities that imitate the Space Shuttle Endeavor. Students work as teams like the astronauts would to complete...
Teach Engineering
Six Minutes of Terror
Help your class understand the design challenges when trying to land a remote spacecraft on a planet. Class members examine the provided information to understand how each component of a spacecraft is designed in order to safely land a...
Teach Engineering
Alloy the Way to Mars
Future engineers test different alloys to determine the specific strength of each one. Based on the results, they make a recommendation to NASA on which alloy to use on engines for spacecraft.
Teach Engineering
Egg-cellent Landing
The classic egg-drop experiment gets a new bounce with an activity that asks pairs to design a lander similar to one used to land a rover on Mars within a fixed budget. The activity provides a great introduction to the idea of terminal...
Curated OER
Space Shuttles in Space
Students use a pencil and paper to practice drawing their own space shuttle doodle. Using new directions, they draw another doodle in which they are allowed to add elements that were not allowed in the first drawing. They paint a space...
Curated OER
Exploring the Planets
Students study robotic spacecrafts that have provided detailed information about the inner and outer planets. In this exploring the planets lesson plan, students use posters and diagrams to study the various robotic spacecraft sent to...
Curated OER
Lost in Space
Here is a case study for high school or college-level learners about space exploration equipment that has failed. The class reads about the Mars Climate Orbiter that was destroyed in 1999 and discusses the costs and benefits of space...
Curated OER
The Incredible Light Bulb-Egg Drop Challenge
Students examine how spacecraft land on Mars. Using eggs or lightbulbs, they design a craft that withstand a drop from a table or ladder, competing in groups to see which module demonstrates the most successful landing.
Curated OER
MAPPING THE TOPOGRAPHY OF UNKNOWN SURFACES
Students describe in words and graphic displays the elevation or depression profile of sections of Mars' Olympus Mons and/or Valles Marineris. They explain how orbiting spacecraft build up global maps one data slice at a time.
Curated OER
Mission to Mars
Students consider the affects of space travel on the human body. In this human physiology lesson, students compare how the 5 different body systems work on Earth and in Space. Students then design a product that an astronaut could use as...
DiscoverE
Touch Down
Protect the marshmallows! Groups create contraptions that will keep marshmallows in a cup, even after dropping them from a certain height. This is a fun way to model the shock-absorbing capabilities of spacecraft.
Curated OER
Mars and Jupiter
Students learn about how engineers help us to know about Mars and Jupiter. In this Mars and Jupiter lesson plan, students are introduced to the telescope, deep space antennas, spacecraft, and planetary rovers that engineers designed to...
Curated OER
To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before
Students study pictures of space vehicles and make their own space vehicle. In this space vehicle lesson, students study pictures of the vehicles and compare and contrast the pictures. Students classify the space crafts and then create...
Curated OER
TE Activity: A Roundabout Way to Mars
Students investigate Hohmann orbit transfers using cardboard and string while focusing on the orbits of Earth and Mars. They look at the planets orbits around the sun and transfer orbit form one planet to another to determine what a...
Teach Engineering
Get Me Off This Planet
What do Newton's Laws have to do with getting from Earth to Mars?The activities in this resource show how Newton's Laws work with rockets to get them into space. Background information includes facts about orbits and how orbits are used...
Teach Engineering
The Great Gravity Escape
Groups simulate an orbit using a piece of string and a water balloon. Individuals spin in a circular path and calculate the balloon's velocity when the clothes pin can no longer hold onto the balloon.
Messenger Education
Look But Don’t Touch—Exploration with Remote Sensing
Mars is home to the tallest mountain in our solar system, Olympus Mons. For this set of two activities, learners review geologic land formations through the analysis of aerial maps. They then apply this knowledge to aerial maps of...
Messenger Education
My Angle on Cooling—Effect of Distance and Inclination
When exploring Mars, spacecrafts are exposed to 5-11 times more sunlight than when near Earth. Groups of pupils complete a hands-on activity to explore how distance and angle of the sun affect temperature. Through discussions, they then...
Curated OER
Probes to Other Planets
Sixth graders use a list of robot components and common household items to design and construct a robot spacecraft model suitable for exploring the Saturn System. They present the robots to the class.
Curated OER
Become a Member of the Mission to Mars Team
Students examine the various jobs of the Mars Mission Team, organize them into categories and write a formal application for a position on the Mars Mission. Entries are made into the logbook and on-line Field Journals read.