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...

Fourth graders identify the Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Pathfinder and the rover, Sojourner.

Students 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 mission...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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.

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.

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...

Students learn about how engineers help us to know about Mars and Jupiter. In this Mars and Jupiter lesson, students are introduced to the telescope, deep space antennas, spacecraft, and planetary rovers that engineers designed to help...

Learners 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. Learners classify the space crafts and then create...

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...

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...

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.

Young scholars 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.

Learners investigate how robots are used in space. In this space science lesson, students participate in an experiment using a blindfold and complete assigned tasks. The learners demonstrate how robots are "thinking" machines.

Students discuss the needs for robots in space discovery, and take turns simulating a robot and controller to demonstrate the difficulties of programming a robot to successfully complete simple tasks.

Students discover the meaning of the word pioneer by using a variety of different activities. They are introduced to some of the pioneers of aviation in Ohio. They use coins and conduct research about some of the persons who accomplished...

Students explore the world of robotics. In this robotics lesson, students discover what a robot is and work with partners to find out how hard it is to accurately guide robots through simple tasks.

Learners explore robots as it relates to artificial intelligence and mechanics. In this introduction to robotics lesson, students examine the technology related to design, research the concept of fabrication theory and the application of...

Students explore the world of robotics. In this robotics lesson plan, students study the history of robots and work with partners to find out how hard it is to accurately guide robots through simple tasks.

Students play the parts of robots and their controllers. In this robot lesson plan, students learn about robots, and use verbal commands to simulate how a robot would command to it's controller.

Students explore Mars and Jupiter, the fourth and fifth planets from the Sun. They learn some of the unique characteristics of these planets. They also learn how engineers help us learn about these planets with the design and development...