Planetary Exploration

Our proposed project titled “Planetary Exploration,” will support students across multiple content areas in meeting State standards, while engaging them in a real-world STEM challenge. The challenge will require the students to answer some of the following questions: What planet in our solar system would you like to become an “expert” in? What is the best robotic design to roll across the surface of your planet to retrieve rocks and minerals? How can you engineer a a device to safely land a rover on the planet surface? What methodology should be used in analyzing the evidence you retrieve from you mission? What conclusions can you draw from our analysis of the evidence? How can you best communicate the results of our mission? Because of the nature of this project, students have the freedom to address these questions though varying and unique pathways; thus challenging the common 6th grade misconception that there is only one “right answer” to a given problem.