Time Travel

through Space History

Space Exploration STEM Activities

2010
Exploring Mars
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 Time Travel
through Space History

Space Exploration STEM Activities

2010
Exploring Mars

©Get Caught Engineering®®

 2010 Exploring Mars and Rovers
What are Rovers?
Rovers are robotic vehicles that can be used to explore distant planets. Because
they are mobile, they aren’t limited to analyzing only what is in the immediate
landing area. The United States has had a rover on Mars since 1996. The rovers
are equipped with many cameras and scientific instruments that enable them to
collect data to help scientists learn important information about Mars. They are
an important step toward the goal of eventually putting humans on Mars.

Before attempting to place a rover on the surface of Mars, NASA needed more
information about the surface of Mars. On July 20, 1976, NASA’s Viking Project
was the very first US mission that successfully landed a vehicle on Mars and
returned pictures of the surface. The two Viking spacecraft were what are called
landers, meaning that they would stay where they landed. Both Viking space
craft were identical. They consisted of a lander and an orbiter; the lander and
orbiter flew together and entered Mars’ orbit. Then they separated and the
landers landed on the surface. The purpose of the Viking mission was to
perform experiments whose purpose was to look for signs of life.

The Viking mission was supposed to last for 90 days after landing. Each of the
landers and orbiters performed far longer than that. The Viking Orbiter 1
continued for four years and its lander operated until November 11, 1982. The
Viking Orbiter 2 orbited Mars until July 25, 1978 and its lander sent its last
transmission on April 11, l980.

Sojourner
The rover Sojourner was part of the Pathfinder mission which was designed to
show a low cost way of delivering scientific instruments to Mars Sojourner
landed on Mars on July 4, 1997. It was the first vehicle with wheels to land on
another planet in the solar system. It provided the first step to putting other
rovers on the surface of Mars. Sojourner was about the size of a microwave
oven. While operational, Sojourner sent back pictures and took chemical and
atmospheric readings. NASA had planned for Sojourner to be operational for 7
days; however she operated for 83 days on the Martian surface.

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 Spirit and Opportunity
The Spirit and Opportunity were identical twin rovers, carrying exactly the same
instruments. They were sent to different areas on Mars
Spirit was launched on June 10, 2003 while the Opportunity was launched on
July 7, 2003. They landed on different areas on Mars. Both the Spirit and
Opportunity had six wheels and were solar powered. They stood 4.9 feet high,
7.5 feet wide and 5.2 feet long. They weighed 400 pounds. They were roughly
the size of a golf cart. Each wheel had its own motor which allowed it to turn.
The wheels also had cleats similar to those on soccer shoes to help the wheels
grip the sand and climb over rocks.

The Spirit and Opportunity also had nine cameras and communication
equipment to relay information to NASA. They also had navigation equipment
and other instruments with which to perform experiments. In 2010 Spirit got
bogged down in the soil and couldn’t move anymore. The decision was made for
it to become a stationary instrument. It was last heard from on March 22, 2010.
Overall, it was operational for 6 years, 2 months, 19 days. The duration of its
mission was over 25 times longer than what NASA had originally planned.
Amazingly, the Opportunity continues to explore the surface of Mars.
Curiosity
Curiosity landed on Mars on August 6, 2012. It mission was essentially to
determine whether or not Mars can be inhabited. One of the things that it is
doing is looking for signs of water. Another priority is to measure the levels of
radiation on the planet. Curiosity is the largest spacecraft ever sent to another
planet; it is the size of an SUV. Curiosity has 17 cameras, a drill and other
scientific instruments to study the planet. Curiosity has a seven foot robotic
arm. It is able to take samples into its lab and perform experiments on the
samples. Curiosity continues to operate today.
What’s Next?
NASA is planning on sending another rover to Mars in 2020. The new rover will
have a similar set of instruments that Curiosity has. But instead of looking for
water, the Mars 2020 rover will be the first with an explicit mission to hunt for
evidence of life. Additionally, the new rover will have a set of microphones. For
the first time, scientists will listen to recordings of Marian winds and weather
changes. We will be able to hear sounds from another world for the first time in
history.
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©Get Caught Engineering®
STEM-tastic Rovers

Engineering
an
Edible
Rover
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 Teacher Notes

Before you begin a STEM activity, decide on

how many groups you will have and who will
be in each group. We recommend that each
group be composed of 3 or 4 students.
Consider each of your students’ strengths and
weaknesses as you form groups.
The dynamic within each group can dictate
whether or not they are successful. This lesson
has been written to allow the students to
choose from a variety of materials that will be
offered.
Teachers can choose to make the problem
more challenging by limiting the number or
amount of materials available. Students can
also be provided a budget with a
corresponding price list for supplies. Upper
students could also be challenged to compute
the cost of their project

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 Your Mission

The United States has been very successful putting Rovers on Mars’ surface. They
have made many improvements over the years to their design.

Your job is to create a Mars rover out of the materials provided – Candy! Although
not made of conventional materials your rover must meet the following
requirements:

• Have wheels that roll

• Have at least 4 scientific instruments. Describe what your instruments do on
your problem-solving sheets. They must also be drawn and labeled in your
drawing.
• One of the instruments must be able to move

Materials
2 tablespoons cake icing rectangular, flat candy bars
1 sheet of wax paper (about 18” x 18”) 1-2 string licorice
2 sheets of paper towels gumdr0ps
2 plastic straws peppermint candies
1 plastic knife* Life Savers ™
1 plastic spoon* marshmallows
6-8 toothpicks jellybeans
1 sheet of cardstock or index cards Fruit Roll Up ™
4 round sandwich cookies pretzel sticks
Graham crackers
*May not be part of the Rover.

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List and describe the function of the 4 scientific instruments your rover will have:
1. _________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
4. _________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Describe the materials that you will use for the body, wheels and instruments for
your rover. Include how you will attach the pieces.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Which instrument will move? How will you accomplish that?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

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Sketch your team’s design. Be sure to label all parts.

Create your design.

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Test your Rover
Do the wheels roll? Yes No
Does it have 4 scientific instruments? Yes No
Does one of the instruments move? Yes No

If you answered no to any of the above questions what changes can you
make? If you answered yes to all of the questions, what improvements to
your design and construction can you make?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Keep Trying! Test your changes and improvements
Do the wheels roll? Yes No
Does it have 4 scientific instruments? Yes No
Does one of the instruments move? Yes No

Keep working until you can answer yes to all of the above questions. Once
your design and prototype have satisfied all of the requirements, examine it
carefully to design improvements.

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 Share your ideas with your class
What worked well?– include both which parts of your design and
construction worked well in addition to how your group worked
together.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
What did not work well? Once again, include both your design,
construction and teamwork.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
How will you use this information to improve future projects?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
What suggestions does the class have for your group?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

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_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
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 References

Dwayne Brown “NASA Announces Mars 2020 Rover Payload to Explore the Red
Planet as Never Before” 21 July 2014. NASA.gov.
https://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/july/nasa-announces-mars-2020-rover-
payload-to-explore-the-red-planet-as-never-before. 2 Jan. 2017
Kristen Erickson “The Mars Rovers: Spirit and Opportunity” 3 Aug. 2016 NASA.gov
http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/mars-spirit-opportunity/en/ 2 Jan. 2017
Kristen Erickson “The Mars Rovers: Curiosity” 3 Aug. 2016 NASA.gov
http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/mars-curiosity/en/ 2 Jan. 2017
“Viking I and II” NASA.gov.
http://mars.nasa.gov/programmissions/missions/past/viking/. 5 Jan. 2017
Kenneth Chang “Curiosity Rover Lands Safely on Mars” 6 Aug. 2012 NASA.gov
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/06/science/space/curiosity-rover-lands-
safely-on-mars.html. 5 Jan. 2017

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General Resources and
Information

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Engineering Design Process

Improve Ask

Test Imagine

Create Plan

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Inquiry Questions

What are some different things you could try?

What would happen if you…?

What might you try instead?

What will you do next?

Tell me about your materials?

Tell me what happened?

What does this make you think of?

What will you do next after you finish this part?

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 Rubric
Little Good Excellent
No Evidence Understanding Understanding Understanding
Communication No Little Some Excellent
Communication Communication Communication Communication
Discussed and Each person Some discussion Discussed ideas Sustained give and
listened to worked on their however with only take of ideas about
teammates’ own ideas. Any frequent periodic the problem and its
ideas and how exchanges with arguments. arguments. solution. No
to meet the teammates Difficulty Usually listened arguments.
requirements of tended to be listening to to others.
the problem. arguments. teammates ideas.
Planning No Little Some Excellent
Planning Planning Planning Planning
Completed and Problem-solving Incomplete Both the Problem-solving
discussed the page undone. problem-solving problem-solving page complete with
problem- Skipped the page. An attempt page and a all details. There is
solving page. A sketch and went at an unlabeled sketch were a labeled detailed
detailed and right to the sketch completed. One sketch.
labeled drawing creation of the or both is
was created. prototype. missing some
details.
Perseverance No Little Some Excellent
Perseverance Perseverance Perseverance Perseverance
Followed Plan was Some parts of Plan followed. Plan completely
agreed upon ignored. Didn’t plan followed. Solved some of followed. Discussed
plan. complete the Needed guidance the problems on and solved
Collaborated challenge due to to finish. own; needed problems as they
to solve giving up. minimal arose.
problems guidance to
as encountered. finish.
Presentation No Few Some Excellent
Details Details Details Details
Detailed Did not present Very short Presentation Thorough
presentation presentation included some of explanation of
outlining with few details. the details and their design as well
details, some of the as problems and
problems problems & their solutions.
and solutions. solutions
encountered.

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 ™

Introducing the Engineering Design Process

Pass out a copy of the Get Caught Engineering® Design

Process so the students can refer to it throughout the
activity. Tell the students that the Engineering Design
Process gives engineers a framework to help them solve
problems. Although the process looks like a continuous
circle, most times, engineers do not make it all the way to
the test step without many times going back to earlier steps.
It is suggested that this is a good time to address that the
solution will not come easily and it is expected that several
designs will have to be created in order to be successful.
Engineers expect to fail during the process and perceive
failure as merely a step that leads them to the solution.

“I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt

discarded is another step forward”
Thomas Edison

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 ™

Ask
Before engineers can plan and design a solution to a problem,
they first need to totally understand the problem and know
what all of the constraints are.
Define the word constraint and have the students compile a
list of constraints for this activity. Write the list on a large
piece of paper or on the Smart Board. This list should be kept
posted in an area that the students can continually refer to it.
Encourage the students to ask questions about the
requirements of the successfully completing the project.
In some cases, you may need to model a question that
might be asked.
Create a discussion centered around the questions in the
ASK portion™ of the process. Younger students may need to
have the questions read to them and discussed as a whole
group, while older students can answer the questions
independently with a follow-up class discussion before they
begin.
Plan
Have individual students write and sketch their ideas and
solutions. Drawings should be detailed and labeled.
Once each student has their ideas sketched out, they can take
turns sharing their ideas with their group. This helps to
insure that each student has ideas to contribute and no one
student’s ideas are immediately chosen. This is a good time
to emphasize that often the best solution is a blending of
ideas.

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 ™

Create
Once the student has produced a detailed plan and drawing students can
gather their materials and proceed. As the students create, circulate
among them to evaluate how they are progressing.
As they build, the students will face and need to overcome many
problems. It can be frustrating for students to have repeated failures;
therefore, it is recommended to end the first “creating” session with a
discussion of how things are going. Reiterate to the students that
engineers fail many times before they succeed and just like real
engineers, they are continually learning while they are failing.
As you walk around you may need to help students focus on what specific
parts of their design are working and what specifically is not working. In
our experience some groups continually start over rather than pinpoint
the flaw in their design. Help guide their thinking by using the Inquiry
Questions included. Encourage students that are having great
difficulty coming
™ up with a plan that works. Invite them to walk
around the room and look at others’ designs. You may have to have a
discussion with the class that this is not cheating, rather a
communication of ideas.
Test, Redesign, or Improve
Although the Design Process has a separate test stage, students should be
constantly assessing if they are meeting the requirements laid out in the
challenge. If students are successful, ask them to critically assess which
aspects of their solution could be improved.
Reflection
It is helpful for the students to reflect on their experience once the
activity is over. Questions to ask are: What went well? What didn’t
work? What would you do differently next time?

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 ™
Get Caught Engineering® has been developed to introduce
all children to engineering concepts in a teacher friendly
approach that easily integrates into subject areas. Simple
low-cost materials, lesson templates, and teacher tips all add
up to user friendly activities that will inspire children to
consider engineering as a great career choice, and a reason
to pursue math and science classes ™ during their school years.
Perseverance, group dynamics, and problem-solving skills
are all developed through our hands on activities.

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