M.A.R.S. (Martian Aerial Reconnaissance Simulation)

Length

90 minutes

Target Audience

Education: Grade(s) 6, 7, 8

Minimum participants:

12

Maximum participants:

30

Primary Disciplines

Career Education, Gifted & Talented, Health/Physical Education, International, Language Arts/English, Mathematics, Problem Solving, Reading, Sciences, Social Studies/History, Special Education, Special Needs, Technology/Information Science

Program Delivery Mode

Videoconference - H.323 (Polycom, Cisco/Tandberg, LifeSize, etc...)
Google Hang Out
Skype

Booking Information

Student missions and FREE Teacher Training sessions are scheduled at your convenience; you select the date/time. You may call 304-243-209 schedule an event or you may do so on-line at www.e-missions.net using the on-line reservation forms.

Sorry, this program is not currently available. To inquire about future availability, please contact Challenger Learning Center at Wheeling University (West Virginia)

For more information contact CILC at (507) 388-3672

Provider's Cancellation Policy

There will be no charge for cancelations due to weather or extreme circumstances. We will charge the full price of a mission if it is canceled less than 48 hours prior to the event; but we will work to reschedule the mission so that no loss is realized by the school/district.

About This Provider

 

Challenger Learning Center at Wheeling University (West Virginia)

Wheeling, WV
United States

In addition to offering award winning, state-of-the-art programs in a $500,000 space simulator, the Challenger Learning Center, thanks to technology, brings its innovative programs to distant classrooms around the world through its electronic distance-learning programs, known as e-Missions. The CLC flies more than 800 e-Missions for schools, many located in traditionally underserved districts, each year. We provide FREE Teacher Training sessions via video conference for any of our distance learning programs.

The Challenger Learning Center® also offers adult and student learners the chance to climb aboard a space station and complete a mission in the role of astronauts, scientists, and engineers with its Corporate Missions. A successful mission requires critical thinking, leadership, cooperation, and problem solving.

Program Details

Format

The year is 2022. After months of space travel, your team of astronauts finally arrives at its destination, Mars. The mission directive is to establish a base and begin building. Your first concern is finding water beneath the surface. With water you get a limitless supply of hydrogen for fuel, oxygen for breathing, and, of course, liquid for nourishment. Without water you would have to turn around and go home before the precious supplies you have on board run out.

The goal of this mission is to conduct aerial reconnaissance to find an ideal location for the first Martian base. Each team of four to six students will control the flight path of one M.A.R.S. surveyor plane. Students will use their planes to scan potential sites for two major requirements. First, they need to find a site measuring at least 10 square kilometers. Second, the site must contain high concentrations of hematite, a mineral normally formed in the presence of water.

Guided by these requirements, each team will select a flight path for its M.A.R.S surveyor plane and identify an ideal site on which to build the first Martian base. At the end of the mission, students will decide as a group on which site to recommend to mission control.

Objectives

Student teams work together to calculate fuel supplies and %'s of hematite in various locations making sure that the area is large enough (and the right geometric shape) to create a landing strip on Mars.

The students work together to make sure they visit as many locations as possible before their fuel is consumed. once they have safely landed their surveyor, they must make a recommendation on the best site for the potential location on Mars.

Standards Alignment

National Standards

This program has been aligned to state/national standards and you can check out the complete list on www.e-missions.net under "Standards and Objectives" on the Teacher's Toolkit.

State Standards

This program has been aligned to state/national standards and you can check out the complete list on www.e-missions.net under "Standards and Objectives" on the Teacher's Toolkit.