Mission to Mars

Ask your kid: What would you need to live on Mars?

Ages

8-10


What you need:

  • graph paper
  • pencils
  • sculpture materials, such as blocks, Legos, cardboard tubes, boxes, plastic soda bottles, pie tins, foil, etc.

What to do:

  1. Involve your child in planning for a mission to Mars. Keep in mind that there are several problems that you will have to solve in order for your Mars colony to survive. These include: air and water supplies, food, waste management, temperature regulation, energy, living spaces, factories, transportation, communication, and government. You might also want to plan recreation spaces!
  2. Research these issues using library books or Web sites.
  3. Next, use pencils and paper to make a blueprint of your colony. Using graph paper will make it easier to plan out the size and location of the parts of your colony. Your child may need to create several drafts before he has a version he is satisfied with. He may also want to cut and paste together elements from different versions.
  4. Now it's time to build a scale model of the colony. Your child can use whatever sculpture materials he finds helpful to construct his colony.
Research
Science & Nature Activities
Cognitive Skills
Experimentation
Age 10
Age 9
Age 8
Research Skills
Model Building
Planets
Arts and Crafts