Learning Goals
Students will be able to explain the scientific purposes of Mars rovers and how evidence of water informs exploration priorities and understanding of planetary dynamics.
Students will be able to define measurable criteria and constraints for a durable solar-powered Mars rover based on mission purpose, terrain, energy availability, materials, cost, and longevity.
Students will be able to evaluate competing energy and mineral-resource solutions for a Mars rover using quantitative cost-benefit comparisons.
Students will be able to generate and justify multiple rover concepts through annotated sketches, mathematical reasoning, and a decision matrix.
Students will be able to build, test, and refine a rover prototype by safely applying appropriate tools, materials, robotics components, and solar-energy processes.
Students will be able to defend collaborative rover design decisions by communicating scientific reasoning, test evidence, trade-offs, limitations, and next-step improvements.
Products
Mars Rover Engineering Design Notebook and Evidence Brief
Each student independently explains the rover’s scientific purpose and Mars-water context, develops multiple annotated concepts, completes cost-benefit and decision-matrix analyses, and interprets prototype test data. The notebook also documents tool and material choices, feedback-based revisions, limitations, and an individual defense of the recommended design.
Solar-Powered Mars Rover Prototype and Mission Review Presentation
Teams build, test, and revise a working rover for a simulated Mars terrain course, drawing explicitly from members’ individual concepts and analyses. At a Mars Mission Review, every member helps demonstrate performance and defend the rover’s purpose, water-related investigation priorities, cost-benefit trade-offs, design decisions, limitations, and proposed improvements.
No rubric has been generated yet.