With simple machines under our belts, 6th grade kicked off our Mars unit by travelling to a space colony! NASA sent us to space to relieve a crew living on a Mars space station.

We headed down to the Museum of Flight for the 2-hour simulation, where students were required to monitor life support systems on the vessel, assess health of the space travelers, build a probe to deploy to Mars’ moons, calculate navigational vectors, test mineral content and communicate efficiently with the ground crew.

This celebration called on weeks of astronaut training that has been going on in Science, Technology and Math.  Students relied on their knowledge of orbital paths and gravitational fields, their ability to read tables and understand algebraic equations, and their familiarity with synchronous (microphone and speakers) and asynchronous (email) forms of communication.

The mission was a resounding success, thanks to teamwork and effective application of skills and knowledge!