Mission to Mars

Planning Game

Mars Colony STEM Project

[Link] STEM EDUCATION

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All Rights Reserved 2017 1
 Table of Contents
NOTE TO TEACHERS
• Activity Guide 7
• Important Links 9
• Part 1: Design a Mars Colony 12
• Part 2: Build a Mars Colony 17

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 Thank You!
Thank you for downloading a Vivify product! If you have any questions, please email us at
info@[Link].

Terms of Use
All pages of this packet are copyrighted. You may not create anything to sell or share based on
this packet. This packet is for one classroom use only. If others like this lesson, please direct
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About Vivify
Vivify is a K-12 STEM education resource company founded by two
aerospace engineers, Natasha and Claire, with a passion for providing
access to quality STEM education.

Our philosophy is that STEM transforms classrooms into an exciting world of curiosity, problem-solving, and
creativity. STEM education can be an empowering interdisciplinary approach that brings math, science, and
engineering concepts to life through challenging opportunities that mimic the complexities and excitement
of the real world.

Every teacher or parent can incorporate STEM into their classroom or home given the right resources, and
that is where Vivify comes in! We love creating STEM materials and are excited to bring STEM to more
classrooms and homes! Click here to learn more about Vivify.

Connect with us for free STEM resources!

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 Want more STEM?
For a complete list of all of Vivify STEM resources by topic and grade, go to:
[Link]

Help! I need to plan a year-long STEM

class! What should I cover? What is
appropriate for each grade level?

We can help! Click here for guidance on a scope

and sequence of a STEM class plus resources and
examples for planning a STEM curriculum map.

3 Stages of STEM
STEM generally revolves around the Engineering Design Process that embraces failure, relies on
teamwork, and requires critical thinking and creativity. While exciting, educators often become
intimidated as a search for curriculum leads to an overwhelming range of activities from index towers to
robotics competitions. At Vivify, we believe that not all STEM is created equal. Educators should adopt a
3 Stages of STEM approach by progressively building towards more complex projects.
Click images for lessons for each stage!

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 OVERVIEW OF STEM
BACKGROUND The following STEM activity is a great way to incorporate the engineering design process
into your classroom or afterschool program! This activity is a Stage 2 and 3 STEM activity.
Learn more about the STEM stages here ([Link]/stemstages). As a student-driven
assignment, the purpose of the teacher is to act as a facilitator. You will provide the
structure to the project, but students will take an active role in solution.

Students will:
• Learn about an engineering problem they need to
solve.
• Connect the problem to STEM careers and a
real-world event.
• Gather materials and brainstorm ideas.
• Draw a design idea.
• Build and test their device. Students will keep
making changes and improving their design.
• Share their a final design.

What is the Engineering Design Process?

In STEM learning, students apply math and science concepts to solve an engineering problem using
technology. Students tackle these problems with the Engineering Design Process which helps them
brainstorm, develop a design, test, and redesign for an optimal solution. However, the Engineering
Design Process should not be confused with the commonly used scientific method. Learn more here.

Stage 2 STEM

For Stage 2 STEM, students apply math and science concepts to problems using the Engineering
Design Process. This process can be visualized with the diagram on the next page. Instead of
immediately building, students are systematically guided through a process of brainstorming,
designing, building, testing, re-designing, and sharing their solutions. For example, in the catapult
challenge, students apply knowledge of elastic potential energy to design a catapult device to
either hit a target or maximize distance. During the testing phase, students analyze catapult
designs to re-design and improve their results. This process enhances student critical thinking skills
while integrating math and science skills into an engaging hands-on engineering project. Real-world
connections further enhance the activity.

Stage 3 STEM

Stage 3 STEM involves long-term projects where math and science concepts are applied to solve
open-ended problems using the engineering design process. Stage 3 challenges students to dive
deeply into a problem, rigorously apply the engineering design process, learn new technology, and
present results.

The Mars Planning Game is a step towards designing and building a Mars Colony, which we consider
a stage 3 challenge.

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 Competition Overview
Can you survive a mission to space?
Submit your design for a colony on the Moon or Mars that can keep a
crew alive and happy! The Space Colony Competition is open to any
team of up to 6 elementary or middle school students. Learn about the
challenges of living in space, research and design a colony, and build a
3D model using recycled materials. Then, upload a video and
presentation for a chance to win prizes, get feedback from real STEM
professionals, and compete with students around the world!

Competition Divisions
Register at: Elementary: 3rd - 5th grade
[Link]/competition Middle: 6th - 8th grade

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Note to Teachers Mars Habitat Project
Can you keep a team of colonists alive and happy on Mars? Students work in teams to
complete the ultimate project-based learning STEM experience: planning a long-term
settlement on Mars! As a student-driven assignment, the purpose of the teacher is to act
as a facilitator.

How much time do teams need? We recommend around 10, 90 minute sessions that
include:

1. Identify the Problem (2 sessions): Learn about Mars

2. Brainstorm Solutions (1 session): Mars Planning Game
3. Design Colony Layout (2 sessions): Mars Colony Layout
4. Build Colony Model (3+ sessions)
5. Record Video + Complete Submission (2 session): Space Colony Competition Submission

Planning Game: Students create colony

teams and complete the Mission to Mars:
Planning Game to determine design
components of a colony on Mars. Students
consider various design solutions on
engineering systems (food, water, power,
oxygen, communication, and science labs)
and mental health considerations (social,
hygiene, exercise, sleeping, and
entertainment). For each system, students
read background cards to weigh the pros and
cons while staying within budget and power
constraints and maximizing human
happiness. Each solution card provides
details that are based on real technologies
being developed by NASA. Once the
solutions are determined, students create a
scale-model of a Mars colony to represent
location and architectural components.

Colony Layout:
Once students have finalized all the
engineering and mental health zones, teams
create a layout of their design that
incorporates the colony location.
Afterwards, teams can use this design as a
blueprint for building a colony prototype
from recycled materials. Full project guide
found here: Mars Colony Project

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Note to Teachers PRIOR TO ACTIVITY
1. READ over the “Note to Teachers” overview on the following pages and the activity
handouts to become familiar with the design challenge. Determine what will work best for
your students, space, and time constraints.

2. COLLECT MATERIALS listed below. Two options are presented depending on whether
students will build the final colony design.

Option 1: No Prototype Option 2: Build Prototype

• Handouts Students should collect recycled materials

• Planning Game from home such as cardboard, toilet
• Pencils paper rolls, plastic containers, etc.
• Colored paper
• 22 x 28 Poster board (per team) Recommended supplies:
• Tape • Scissors
• Foam board
• Paint
• Hot glue gun
• Cardboard
• Pipe cleaners
• Recycled materials

Final product: Build a Mars colony!

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 IMPORTANT LINKS
Important Links The following are links to student handouts and teacher materials to support
implementation of this lesson.

How to use Google Slide Links

These links makes a copy to your Google Drive to edit as needed. To
print slides, click FILE and then PRINT. To convert to PDF, click FILE →
DOWNLOAD → PDF.

If assigning Google Slides to students, here are some useful resources:

● To prevent students from editing the slides, watch this.

● To send a copy of the file to your students, watch this.

Teacher Instructional Slides & Video

To support your students, we have create editable teacher companion
presentation slides and instructional video to guide your students
through the lesson. For slides, you will need a Google Account to access
the links. This link makes a copy to your Google Drive.
Click for Editable Teacher Companion Slides.
• Click here for Game Cards.
• Click here for Game Boards

Printable Student Handouts

To allow for teachers to customize worksheets, we are providing a link
to the Google Slides version for editing student handouts for this lesson.
Click here to access this editable packet via Google Slides.

Digital Student Handouts

Prefer a digital version of student worksheets or journals? The following
can be assigned via Google Classroom. Students will need a Google
account. Click here for Google Slides Journal

Assessment Rubrics
STEM challenges can be used for various learning outcomes such as
engineering process skills, communication, science concepts, etc.
Learning outcomes will greatly differ based on how the STEM
activity is implemented, time constraints, and other factors. We
have provided editable templates as a starting point. Click here
for editable rubrics.

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Resources RESOURCES FOR TAKING IT FURTHER

Mars Video Resources & Current Events

• Journey to Mars
• Could We Live on Mars?
• We Brake for Mars
• Mars In A Minute: Getting to Mars
• How do you land on Mars?
• Could we live on Mars?
• Life In a Mars Colony
• How do Rovers drive on Mars?
• Mars City Design
• Marstopia
• Insight Lander
• NASA Journey to Mars

Math Connections:

• Compare scale models of Earth, Sun, and Mars

• Draw scale model of colony design
• Build scale model of prototype with length scale defined

Science Connections:

• Space sciences
• Energy Sources (solar, wind, battery)
• Science Behind the Martian Movie
• Mars Colonization - LiveBinder

Engineering and Technology Connections:

• Engineering design process: NASA | NASA for Kids: Intro to Engineering

• Recognize the importance of materials, environment, and constraints of the design
process

History Connections:

• History of exploration of Mars

• Curiosity Rover Landing: Challenges of Getting to Mars: Curiosity's Seven Minutes of
Terror

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Note to Teachers NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS

The Mars Colony Engineering Design Challenge follows the NGSS Engineering Design
Standards for Elementary and Middle School.

3-5-ETS1-1 Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes
specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
3-5-ETS1-2. Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how
well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
3-5-ETS1-3. Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure
points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be
improved.
MS-ETS1-1 Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient
precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant
scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural
environment that may limit possible solutions.
MS-ETS1-2. Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine
. how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
MS-ETS1-3. Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among
several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can
be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.
MS-ETS1-4. Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a
proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be
achieved.
4-ESS3-1. Obtain and combine information from books and other reliable media to
describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and their
uses affect the environment.

OTHER TOPICS COVERED

• Research and summarization of scientific content

• Reflection on components of society: government, entertainment, etc.
• Types of government
• Space exploration
• Mars environment
• Effects of space on the human body

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 Part 1:
Design a Mars Colony

Mission
to Mars

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Activity Instructions TEACHER INSTRUCTIONS
1. Engage: Show a real-world example of the
engineering design process related to the journey to
Mars (videos links on Resources and Taking it Further
page).
• Introduce the engineering design process as
described in the handout.
• Read “Mission to Mars” sheet describing
NASA’s Journey to Mars.

2. Mission Sheet: Pass out Mission Sheet to student

teams. Groups of 3 – 4 are recommended. No more
than 6 students should be placed in a team. Discuss
how students will learn about the hazards of living
on Mars and develop a solution for a possible habitat
on Mars. Emphasize that teams will be planning for
both keeping humans alive as well as for their
happiness. Showing a news clip of recent
developments towards Mars colonization is a great
way to increase excitement.

3. Identify Problem & Reflect on Society: To help

students plan a human settlement, they first need to
reflect on our society here on Earth.

4. Learn about Mars: Before planning a colony on Mars,

students need to understand the environment of
Mars. A one-pager handout is provided as background
information.

5. Planning Game: Students complete the Mission to

Mars: Planning Game to determine design
components of a colony on Mars. Students consider
various design solutions on engineering systems
(food, water, power, oxygen, communication, and
science labs) and mental health considerations
(social, hygiene, exercise, sleeping, and
entertainment).

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Activity Instructions Part 1: Prep Game
• Click here for Game Cards.
• Download as a PDF and print
• Cards will be updated to reflect
current events and new technologies
• Email info@[Link] for any
comments
• Gameboard is in included PDF file.
• Prep the game by printing the two game
boards: Engineering and Mental Health Zones.
The game can be printed as a large poster
(24" x 18") or as tiles on regular copy paper.
These tiles can be taped together to create
the board. When printing as tiles, choose the
“Poster” option on Adobe and see settings in
image below. For any help on this, email
info@[Link]
• Print the game cards (one-sided) preferably in
color as the cards match each zone color.
These may be laminated to last longer.

Part 2: Play Game

• Explain: Introduce the game with the
provided Mars Colony Planning Game sheet
and student handout. Show students the two
game boards (engineering and mental health)
and the corresponding game cards (each
board has its own set of cards). At the bottom
of the card, “E” is for engineering and “M” is
for mental health. The colors correspond to
the zones. For example, “Food System” cards
are all green.

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Activity Instructions • Design Solutions: Students will play the game by reading
the cards for each zone. Teams will discuss the pros and
cons while staying within budget and power constraints
and maximizing human happiness. Each solution card
provides details that are based on real technologies being
developed by NASA. Assign a team member to use the
included handouts to track budget, power, and happiness.
• Test Solutions: After solutions are finalized, students will
test designs using the provided real-world scenarios.
Teams can change designs if they determine too much risk
is involved with their selected card.

6. Layout Design: Once students have finalized all the engineering and mental health
zones, teams create a layout of their design that incorporates the colony location.
• Plan Overall Layout: Students will think about their overall colony design. Show
examples of Mars colony designs using links in the resource section. Have each
student on the team sketch an idea for the overall colony layout. Bring ideas
together to finalize one overall colony layout and draw on provided handout.
• Plan Zone Placement: Provide each team with a standard poster board to
represent the area for their colony. Using the sketch as a guide, have students plan
out the location of each zone. Students will cut out colored paper to represent
each zone solution. For example, students need to cut out an area for their water,
food, and power system solutions. The paper will be placed on the poster board and
arranged to create the colony blueprint. Use one color for engineering and a second
color for mental health. A table is provided in the student handouts that gives a
suggested size for each zone. These sizes are based on creating a layout on a
standard poster board (size) with 8.5 x 11 copy paper. So ¼ refers to folding a sheet
of paper in half twice.

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Activity Instructions Colony Layout Example 1
This layout is one large dome built inside a crater
with a few zones at higher elevation along the crater
edge.

• Orange = Mental Health Zones

• Blue = Engineering Zones
• Red = Higher elevation due to crater wall

Colony Layout Example 2

This layout is built on a flat plain and separated into
3 separate structures or pods.

• Orange = Mental Health Zones

• Blue = Engineering Zones
• Red = The “Atmospheric Lab” is built above the
hidden “Hydroponics” food area. (Red paper taped
on one edge and can be lifted to reveal the
hydroponics area below)

Teacher Tips: Students often struggle with drawing a habitat

from scratch, so the zones allow them to focus on the layout
without worrying about the details. They can also describe if
the zones are placed in pods, all in one dome, underground,
etc.

More advanced students can then take this initial layout and
create a more detailed drawing.

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 Part 2:
Build a Mars Colony

Mission
to Mars

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 Instructions on Building a Mars Colony
Activity Instructions
1. Students will review layout and finalize the zones.

2. Ideally students will work in teams, and each student is assigned a zone to focus on. They
are provided with the dimensions of their zone, and then they are tasked with building the
zone with recycled materials. Students might need to conduct additional research on what
that zone needs to include. For example, what is a hydroponics system? What does it
include? How can they best represent the items in the zone? How do they make them to
scale?

3. For building, students can build directly on the foam board. Another option is to create the
zone separately and then attach to the board.

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 Habitat Examples
Teacher Tips: Using materials such as cardboard, plastic containers, and art supplies, teams
build various components on a large foam board or other sturdy structure. Using the habitat
layouts, teams can assign each member a specific zone to research and build. Final designs
can be presented to local science and engineering professionals for feedback. Other ideas for
this project:

● Include a trifold board or Google Slides describing zones

● Send home a letter asking for help to collect recycled materials
● Set height constraints, recommend 16 inches
● Provide budget for project supplies Join the Space
● Create marketing materials for advertising habitat to potential colonists Colony
Competition!

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