Curious about the
digital world?
Curious about using
and creating
energy?
Bringing Science,
Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics to life
Curious about
keeping people
healthy?
Curious about
making things?
The Curiosity
Project
Curious about being
on the move?
45 minutes
Curious about using
Space
craft
and
creating
landing
energy?
Space craft landing
Aims
In this session, students become Mars Curiosity Rover engineers designing, building and testing basic landing systems with household
materials to ensure a safe landing!
A Fact File with background information on the Mars Rover and
spacecraft landing systems is included, providing context and
information to help you answer students’ questions.
Key learning
outcomes
By the end of the activity students will:
• Learn about various mechanisms of shock absorption and
reducing impact, in the context of the Mars Rover
• Practice and recognise the steps of the engineering design
process used to create a landing system
• Work in teams to successfully complete an engineering
challenge
• PowerPoint presentation
Resources
• Student worksheet (copy for each student)
• Tablet/laptop/computer to access YouTube
• Projector/interactive whiteboard
• Newspaper to protect the ‘drop zone’
Each group of 4 students will need:
• A small paper bag
• Sellotape
• A plastic carrier bag
• Blu-Tack
• 3 balloons
• 2 paper clips
• Small wooden ball or weight
for testing
• 2 metres of string
• 1 raw egg
• Scrap paper and card
• Resealable bag to hold weight
and egg during testing
• Scissors
• Prepare the egg ‘drop zone’ ahead of the session and source any
other materials available that students could use to make their
landing systems.
siemens.co.uk/curiosity-project
1
Curious about the
digital world?
Curious about using
and creating
energy?
Bringing Science,
Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics to life
Curious about
keeping people
healthy?
Curious about
making things?
The Curiosity
Project
Curious about being
on the move?
45 minutes
Curious about using
Space
craft
and
creating
landing
energy?
Space craft landing
Before running a workshop
• Read through this overview and familiarise yourself with the content and supporting resources.
• We’ve included a Fact File at the end of this guide to walk you through any key concepts or theory you need
to know.
Are you a Siemens volunteer?
• There are plenty of volunteer resources to support you in preparation for your workshop. Start with the
Volunteer Guide available through the Curiosity Project website.
• Get in touch with the teacher beforehand to discuss resources you need (equipment, print outs, access to
internet, facilities etc.) or questions you may have - they’ll be happy to help.
Workshop overview
Activity steps
Time needed
You will
Students will
Starter
discussion
15 minutes
Start a discussion to introduce
various ways of reducing
impact and shock absorption,
linking to everyday application
and the Mars Rover soft
landing system, via a YouTube
video.
Discuss what they
already know about
impact reduction
systems, learn about
Siemens’ work on the
Mars Rover landing
system and the
challenges faced by its
engineers.
Activity
25 minutes
Challenge students to build a
soft landing system for an egg,
supporting them through the
engineer design process.
Work in teams to
complete an engineering
challenge using
the design process,
recording their learning
on worksheets.
Plenary and
reflection
5 minutes
Link the activities to the
engineering design process,
support students as they
consider what they’ve learnt and
answer any remaining questions
they have about the workshop.
Reflect on the design
process, identify areas that
have been covered and
discover further resources
that might inspire them.
siemens.co.uk/curiosity-project
2
Curious about the
digital world?
Curious about using
and creating
energy?
Bringing Science,
Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics to life
Curious about
keeping people
healthy?
Curious about
making things?
The Curiosity
Project
Curious about being
on the move?
45 minutes
Curious about using
Space
craft
and
creating
landing
energy?
Space craft landing
On
the day
On the day
Starter discussion
15 minutes
• Have the second slide showing as students enter the room.
.ppt
.ppt
Slide 2
Slide 3
• If you’re a Siemens volunteer take a couple of minutes to introduce
yourself, what you do, and why you’re here on behalf of Siemens
and the Curiosity Project.
Start with a couple of interesting facts about you/your career:
– ‘I received Cs in my GCSEs, but took a more practical education
route and now I’m part of a highly skilled team that installs wind
turbines across the UK.’
– ‘I’ve just come back from talking at a conference in the Middle East and
my team developed a way to test the hearing of new born babies.’
Learning outcomes
.ppt
Slide 4
• Set the learning outcomes for the session.
What do these images have in common?
.ppt
Slide 5
• Invite students to suggest what these images have in common.
• Encourage them to think through other situations where you might
need to reduce impact.
• Ask students:
– Is there movement happening in each one?
– In what scenarios do we need to think about reducing impact on
objects or people?
Tip: You could discuss crumple zones and air bags in cars, foam and air pockets
in shoes and knee pads (which absorb energy on impact), parachutes (which
reduce speed), bending knees when you land (an example of suspension), etc.
siemens.co.uk/curiosity-project
3
Curious about the
digital world?
Curious about using
and creating
energy?
Bringing Science,
Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics to life
Curious about
keeping people
healthy?
Curious about
making things?
The Curiosity
Project
Curious about being
on the move?
45 minutes
Curious about using
Space
craft
and
creating
landing
energy?
Space craft landing
Mars Rover landing
.ppt
Slide 6
• Play the video (youtube.com/watch?v=N9hXqzkH7YA) and ask
students to think about the different ways engineers could have
designed a ‘soft landing system’.
• Ask students to give examples of soft landing systems they saw in
the video, or to share examples of landing systems they’ve thought
of themselves.
– What kind of challenges do they think engineers faced when
designing the landing system?
– Why was it important for engineers to test the landing systems?
Activity
25 minutes
Design a landing craft
.ppt
Slide 7
• Ask the teacher to help you hand out the worksheets.
• Explain that working in groups of 4, they need to design and make a
system that will allow them to drop a raw egg on to the floor, from
desk height, without cracking it.
• Invite teams to use the materials provided in any way they choose,
or source materials in the classroom with permission.
• The landing system can be attached directly to the resealable bag,
which can hold the dummy weight for trialling their prototypes, and
the egg for testing.
• If placing padding etc. on the floor, the height must be adjusted so
the egg still travels the full desk height.
• Suggest teams use a ‘dummy weight’ in the resealable bag to test their
systems, as the egg will only be used at the very end of the session.
• Ask students to complete their worksheets as they go to ensure they
have a record of prototypes.
• Set the timer for 15 minutes and wander around the class, guiding
students with questions such as:
– Why have you decided to build it using these materials/this
design?
– What do you think is good about your design?
– How do you think you might improve it?
siemens.co.uk/curiosity-project
4
Curious about the
digital world?
Curious about using
and creating
energy?
Bringing Science,
Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics to life
Curious about
keeping people
healthy?
Curious about
making things?
The Curiosity
Project
Curious about being
on the move?
45 minutes
Curious about using
Space
craft
and
creating
landing
energy?
Space craft landing
• After 15 minutes, gather students around the ‘drop zone’ (over newspaper
as this can get messy if landers or resealable bags malfunction!) and test
each lander using an egg.
Tip: If groups are struggling, suggest they think about the different examples
listed to reduce impact earlier in the session. Can they borrow any ideas from
the design of a helmet or a sky-diver’s parachute?
Plenary and reflection
5 minutes
Safe landing
.ppt
Slide 8
• Carry out a classroom vote for the best system.
• Ask students:
– What is it about the winning designs that make them successful?
– Would any of the ideas work on a real space probe? For example,
engineers need to consider whether there is an atmosphere on
the planet because parachutes don’t work without an atmosphere
to produce drag.
– What would they do differently next time?
Engineering design process
.ppt
Slide 9
• Explain to students that in the process of improving their landing
systems, they practised the steps of the engineering design process.
This is a process used by engineers to solve real problems and find
solutions that make people’s lives better.
• Ask students:
– Did they know this is what engineers do?
– How might space exploration makes people’s lives better?
– Did they enjoy going through the process? Why?
siemens.co.uk/curiosity-project
5
Curious about the
digital world?
Curious about using
and creating
energy?
Bringing Science,
Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics to life
Curious about
keeping people
healthy?
Curious about
making things?
The Curiosity
Project
Curious about being
on the move?
45 minutes
Curious about using
Space
craft
and
creating
landing
energy?
Space craft landing
Failing to succeed
.ppt
Slide 10
• Remind students that even if their designs didn’t work, an important
part of an engineer’s work is to ‘make it, break it, learn from it, and
try again’!
• The design process is fantastic for learning from your mistakes, and
constantly improving.
• Top engineers aren’t afraid to fail – making mistakes is one of the
best ways to learn (for more information see Fact File).
Follow on activity
.ppt
Slide 11
• If students are interested in learning more about the engineering
and software that went into the design of the Mars Rover – and
maybe even see it in person - they can visit the Curiosity Project
website to find out more.
• There’s also plenty of relevant careers information on
siemens.co.uk/curiosity-project/youngpeople and Siemens websites.
siemens.co.uk/curiosity-project
6
Curious about the
digital world?
Curious about using
and creating
energy?
Bringing Science,
Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics to life
Curious about
keeping people
healthy?
Curious about
making things?
The Curiosity
Project
Curious about being
on the move?
Careers and education resources
Curious about using
Space
craft
and
creating
landing
energy?
Careers
Careers in engineering:
siemens.co.uk/curiosity-project/youngpeople
Apprenticeships:
siemens.co.uk/careers/en/students/apprenticeships.htm
Graduates:
siemens.co.uk/careers/en/graduate/graduate.htm
Internships:
siemens.co.uk/careers/en/students/internships/internships.htm
Careers at Siemens Global:
siemens.com/jobs/en/index.php
Education resources
Key Stages 3/4
Green Racers:
siemens.co.uk/education/en/teachers/teaching-resources/schemes-of-work-ks4.htm
Inspired Bus Company:
siemens.co.uk/education/en/teachers/teaching-resources/schemes-of-work-ks4.htm
Roller-Coaster Challenge:
siemens.co.uk/education/en/activities-challenges.htm
siemens.co.uk/curiosity-project
7
Curious about the
digital world?
Curious about using
and creating
energy?
Bringing Science,
Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics to life
Curious about
keeping people
healthy?
Curious about
making things?
The Curiosity
Project
Curious about being
on the move?
Fact File: Landing spacecraft
Curious about using
Space
craft
and
creating
landing
energy?
Landing spacecraft
• The exploration probe Huygens landed on Saturn’s moon, Titan in 2005. Several probes have successfully
landed on Mars, including the robotic space probe Curiosity in 2012. Siemens software played a key role
in helping the Rover land safely. Exploratory probes studied the climate and geology, sending information
about the soil, atmosphere and presence of chemicals such as water back to Earth.
• It is crucial that the space probes are not damaged on landing, as they contain delicate scientific equipment.
• Space probes experience a shock as they enter the upper atmosphere of planets such as Mars at high
speed. So rockets were fired and a parachute opened to slow the descent.
• Slowing is important to reduce friction with the atmosphere, which heats up the probe. Shortly before
landing, a set of can airbags inflate to absorb impact. This landing design allows the spacecraft to bounce
on the planet’s surface before coming to rest.
Beagle 2 spacecraft ‘fail’
This is a story of a sighting of the Beagle
2 spacecraft, which successfully landed
on the surface of Mars in 2003 but failed
to fully deploy its solar panels. Without
these, it could not communicate with Earth
and scientists lost contact (theguardian.
com/science/2015/jan/16/lost-beagle-2spacecraft-found-mars)
siemens.co.uk/curiosity-project
8