Students will enter the project through a Mars survival engineering challenge, then translate that experience into a first-pass colony systems sketch and project setup materials that frame later design work around evidence, constraints, and teamwork.

Students will investigate Mars survival systems through hands-on analysis, research existing habitat solutions, and translate evidence into a measurable engineering design brief with criteria, constraints, and stakeholder-centered problem statements for their colony team.

Students will generate and compare multiple Mars colony life-support concepts, use a weighted decision matrix to select the strongest plan, gather and apply peer and partner feedback, and prepare a clear build outline for both the physical model and digital simulation.

Students will test Mars colony subsystems against their design brief, analyze failures with evidence, revise both physical and digital solutions, and prepare a clear engineering story that explains how the colony meets survival needs under Mars constraints.

Students will present their final Mars colony model and digital simulation to an authentic audience, defend engineering decisions with evidence from testing and revision, collect feedback from visitors, and complete a brief final reflection on colony performance and teamwork growth.