Sojourner
Simulation in
South Phoenix
M. O. Bush School
Ms. Michelle Johnson
Mrs. Helen L. Atkins-Kurtz
Table of Contents
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Project overview
A.
Background
B.
Objectives
C.
Procedures
D.
Problems
E.
Assessment Analysis
F.
Recommendations
G.
Conclusion
Lesson Plans
A.
Pre-kit arrival
B.
Stage 1 - Building
C.
Stage 2 - Testing
D.
Stage 3 - Design modification
E.
Stage 4 - Testing Hypothesis
F.
Stage 5 - Discovering problems
G.
Stage 6 - Pulling it all together
H.
Stage 7 - Conclusion
Samples of student's work
A.
Pre-Kit arrival
B.
Stage 1 - Building
C.
Stage 2 - Testing
D.
Stage 3 - Design Modification
E.
Stage 4 - Testing Hypothesis
F.
Stage 5 - Discovering problems
G.
Stage 6 - Writing Samples from Red Rover
H.
Stage 7 - Conclusion
Appendix A - Internet sites
Appendix B - Samples and Pictures.
Section I: Project Overview
Background
Early in January 2000 Dr. Nancy Crocker envisioned schools in the Roosevelt School District
participating in an innovative program called Red Rover. Some briefing occurred prior to the primary meeting
on January 21, 2000 with a presentation by Sheri Kulm from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The
references we received can be observed at http://redrover.planetary.org/brochures.html, and several Internet site
addresses for additional research. These sites are listed along with many others obtained during the course of
our experience in Appendix A. This was the initial meeting of the minds of Michelle Johnson and Helen L.
Atkins-Kurtz. It was only due to scheduling that we would work together. We started with the class on
February 1, 2000 and were planning to work on this project Tuesdays and Thursdays for an hour and fifteen
minutes. Our Red Rover kits were ordered by the Roosevelt School District and needed inspection (in the
district receiving offices) prior to release for our classroom. Consequently the actual arrival date of the Red
Rover kits to our classroom was February 15, 2000.
Objectives
Our goals while undertaking the Red Rover program was to impart appropriate and necessary
mathematics, science, engineering and literary skills needed to perform a sophisticated design project.
Additionally, we were attempting to match National and State standards in science and mathematics. These
standards are linked in Appendix a containing Internet sites.
Procedures
At the start date of February 1, 2000 we presented the students with the background to form a team that
could implement every phase of designing and publishing an engineering project. The idea to mimic a scientific
environment similar to NASA was presented in prior briefing by the specialists from JPL, NASA, and Arizona
State University (ASU) therefore lesson 1 included position descriptions, and application submission by the
students. To engage interest an additional component was introduced in the form of a geological simulation of
core sampling (lesson 1a).
From the information gathered in the initial exercise the teachers created badges with appropriate
symbols to depict position description. This was necessary as consultation with other members of different
groups and similar jobs would be a requirement for subsequent assignments. Furthermore, when addressing
problems the students and teachers would be communicating with the appropriate person(s) who could best
solve the questions at hand. A sample of the badges created is in the sample section of Appendix B.
Another component was necessary at this stage of the project, an assessment methodology and tools
(sample 2, Appendix B), and list of grading requirements for the students (lesson #2). The continuation of
Lesson 1 was accompanied by lesson #2. At this junction the students were introduced to the request for
materials or equipment, mission log, terrain design form, and rover design forms. They were asked to review
these briefing materials and ask questions. We were experiencing writing difficulties at this juncture and the
process of understanding requirements required an extended open-ended discovery period. During the initial
class discussion discovery about trajectory paths was explored with an activity planned from the NASA
teaching aids (our version was modified greatly due to young person unfriendliness and errors in calculation or
typographical errors - teacher tested activity). This activity was not completed during the course of the second
lesson and materials were given to Ms. Johnson for a further lesson. This planned lesson is included as lesson
2b. The lesson may not be necessary to the project as a whole but if time allows is a valuable tool for showing
students how they may project a spacecraft from Earth to Mars that could contain their rover.
For following week of February 8, 2000 we had made arrangements during the prior week to obtain a
full hour of computer lab time. Therefore a lesson(s) plan was created to introduce the students to the aspects of
their new jobs. This would be lesson #3 (Section II). Problems during this phase-included incompatibility of
Claris works program and Microsoft word (Claris works in lab, word in classroom). The other problems
included unfamiliarity with Microsoft Excel, difficulty with insertion of pictures in Claris works, unfamiliarity
with Paint, and difficulty accessing all web sites from firewalls. All of these obstacles were overcome through
adjustments made by teachers on site. On February 10, 2000 the 'Great Egg drop' activity was introduced. The
ideas formulated from this activity relate to landing a fragile object on mars (lesson #4). This activity would
take the students the entire class period and needed to be continued during the next class period for
arrangements with personnel to drop designs from high place in the school. The day before the next class
period the kits would arrive and the students would need to organize the inventory for basic kits (Appendix B
pictures). It was also apparent the students in the Communications fields needed inspiration as to the validity of
their positions the demoflyer.doc file was created to stimulate their continuing interest from pictures of the
'great egg drop.'
Ms. Johnson attempted to contact Mrs. Kurtz upon the arrival of the Red Rover kits and was
unsuccessful. However in anticipation of this important date an activity was predetermined and available on
February 15, 2000. Dual activities were accomplished during this week as the great egg drop proceeded and the
inventory was catalogued and placed in 'lure kits' by the students. Sheets were given to inventory control
specialists to record number of parts. The remaining inventory was sorted and catalogued by Mrs. Kurtz over
the next weekend and recorded into Microsoft Excel (see Appendix B samples and pictures). This activity
paved the way for the 'cost analysis' activities of the future for our inventory control specialists.
The next class period on Thursday February 17 included further sorting of the basic kit and the final
dropping of the fragile egg devices. Analysis of the fragile egg designs was performed and an inventory
problem was given for homework (Appendix B samples).
For the week of February 22 we assigned advanced computer lab activities for the communications
students (Lesson #5), writing homework to an engineer at NASA for a 3 day forum (Section III – sample replies
to three of our students), and continued research for geology personnel. Continuing with the engineering
portion of the project all students participated in a gear ratio activity on the 24th (Cover picture, Appendix B
samples and Lesson #6). This activity would be a good introduction to building the rover and terrain for the
following week.
Starting on February 29 the actual building of the basic rover and the terrain was implemented. (See
Appendix B – pictures). The students were assigned a gear ratio problem on March 2 2000. Ms. Johnson
volunteered to do activities during all 5 periods in each week. We met on March 3 and developed activities for
the next week including assignments for Monday where engineers will create a data table in Excel to record
straight line calibration data on Tuesday (see sample in Appendix B), continued activities on the terrain building
and recording procedures, press releases by communications experts, and updated paperwork of new parts used
in building the rover by the inventory control students. We believe this will help develop a deeper
understanding by all of our students in the areas of mathematics and science.
Section II. Lesson Plans
Lesson Plan #1
Position Description and Applications
Credits:
The Planetary Society, NASA, JPL and ASU K-12 team, teachers manual.
Objectives: Familiarize students with necessary positions for completion of a full-scale simulation of an
engineering project.
Materials:
Position descriptions, justification form, application form, and additional research by teacher
and/or students on Internet about job requirements.
Launch:
Remind the students of the worldwide excitement when the Pathfinder lander and Sojourner
microrover landed on Mars in July 1997. Present the idea that the classroom will have the experience of
designing, building, and operating there own Mars Rover.
Procedure: Students will read and discuss position requirements; during this phase justification for hire is
required (written or verbalized). When students finalize their choices they must fill out Worksheet one
'Organizing a Mission Team.'
Lesson Plan #1a
Areology - The Study of Mars
Credits:
ASU Mars K-12 Education Fall 1998 Workshop, Department of Geology.
Objectives:
The students will have the opportunity to:

Examine a simulated Martian surface core sample.

Learn how matching it with a known sample can identify an unknown core sample.

Discover how surface core samples can tell us about the history and make-up of Mars.

Consume the core sample at the end of the exercise!
Launch:
Explain the procedure of the Polar lander's missions in December 1999 and the scheduled
activities of the Mars 2003 Athena Long Range Rover. Even though we now know this mission was not
successful, we can describe the mission goals based upon the knowledge that objectives will be applicable to
subsequent Mars rover missions. These include:

Polar lander applicable activities: A robotic arm will drill down approximately 1/2 meter
into layered terrain near the South Pole of Mars (= 70 latitude).

Mars 2003 Athena LRR application: This rover will drill core samples in selected rocks
for the sample return to Earth scheduled for 2005.
Materials:
(Each student) needs:

'Fun or bite size' candy bars (Snickers, Milky Way, Mounds, Reeses Peanut Butter Cup,
etc).

Two to four 3" long sections of clear plastic soda straws (difficult to find, order from a
restaurant in advance).

Paper plate, napkins, plastic knife, graph paper, and small ruler.
Procedures:
(1)
Distribute one candy bar to each student (use candy at room temperature, or a bit warmer).
Instruct students not to show their brand to anyone else. Ask each student to unwrap their bar
and record observations about its surface: color, texture, composition, etc.
(2)
Have students take a 'core sample' by carefully and steadily drilling a straw into their candy bar.
Then ask them to record the number and thickness of layers, as well as the color and texture of
the layers. What are the layers made of? Any repeated layers?
(3)
Have the student use knives to cut candy in two so the layers can be view more easily in a crosssection. Discuss which layers were made first. How were the layers made?
(4)
Have students measure the thickness and composition of layers. They can graph the results, then
compare and contrast with other students' results or repeat the exercise for different types of
candy bars and compare their results.
(5)
They may eat the results.
Lesson Plan #2
(Insert worksheets 2,3,4,5 and assessment documents page 3 of doc Sheri gave us plus the page 3 of teaching
manual for red rover)
Lesson Plan #2a
Teacher's Aide for Orbit Lesson Plan - copies may be helpful for students.
Ellipse - Kepler, in 1602, said he believed that the orbit of Mars was oval, and then he later discovered that it was an ellipse with the
sun at one focus. In fact Kepler introduced the word "focus" and published his discovery in 1609. The eccentricity of the planetary
orbits is small (i.e. they are close to circles). The eccentricity of Mars is 1/11 and of the Earth is 1/60.
Orbit
Path in space described by a smaller body revolving around a second, larger body where the motion of the
orbiting body is dominated by their mutual gravitational attraction.
Eccentricity
The distance of the larger body from the center of the orbit divided by the length of the orbit's semimajor axis.
Semimajor axis
The average distance of a smaller body from a larger body.
Apsis
point in the ORBIT of a smaller body where it is at its greatest or least distance from a larger body to which it is
attracted. In an elliptical orbit these points are called the apocenter and pericenter; corresponding terms for
elliptical orbits around the sun, the earth, and a star are, respectively, aphelion and perihelion, apogee and
perigee, and apastron and periastron.
(Insert trajectory.html here)
All the planets in our solar system orbit the Sun in an ellipse. The ellipses the planets follow have the Sun as one of their foci. Here is
an experiment you can do that will explain orbits a little better.
Lesson Plan #3
Launch:
During initial class discussion introduce the idea that we are starting our jobs with assignments
that will enable us to produce the final results desired for the project.
Procedures: Give the copies of the appropriate section below to each student based on his/her job and ask
them to follow directions given. Note insertion of pictures in documentation was due to ongoing photography
with a digital camera for exposure to technological process and as a method of recording procedure in the
experiments.
Communications experts we need a professional flyer to distribute to the community about your work in progress. At NASA and
other engineering, scientific firms that sub-contract to NASA must justify their expenses to the public. Your duties today are outlined
in the steps below.
1. Put the disc with your pictures in the floppy drive (A).
2. Click on Microsoft word program, if not on the front panel click on start (lower bottom left corner) and go to programs, click
on Microsoft word.
3. Place your Name in the upper right corner of the page, go to the second line and tab over to line up with your name and enter
the date.
4. Hit enter twice.
5. Go to the Insert command at the top of your screen, click on this command.
6. Scroll down to the ‘picture’ command, when the arrow to the right has some new commands select ‘from file’.
7. You may have to use the blank next to the words ‘look in’ and scroll down to ‘3 ½ inch floppy (A:) and click on this to
retrieve pictures.
8. Highlight picture you want to insert and click on ‘insert’ at the bottom right corner.
9. Insert several of your pictures, and write an article based on the best pictures you have taken, describe the activities you were
performing. If you need to reference the mission logs from last week do so by removing them from your group folders.
10. Delete the pictures you did not write about by clicking on them, going to edit on the top-left of the command bar and
scrolling down to ‘cut.’ Move the pictures around if you need to by clicking on them and dragging them to the area you wish
to finally display them.
11. Save your work by going to the File command and hitting ‘save as.’
12. Print your work if deemed appropriate by Ms. Johnson.
Geology Team: We are in need of information to land a rover. You should obtain the papers with notes on the pictures you worked
on in your groups 2 weeks ago and visit these sites:
http://www.mars-sites.arc.nasa.gov/
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/msss/camera/images/11_22_99_spld/index.html
Continue to describe the pictures you observe at these sites on the logbook, so that we may determine the site at which we will run our
Rover on.
Inventory team: Your mission is to enter the data for the parts of our rover in an easily accessible file for updates. The procedure is:
1. Go to Start on the lower left corner of the screen.
2. Scroll up to Programs.
3. Go over and click on Microsoft Excel.
4. Across the top row enter ‘description’, ‘item #’,’number required’, ‘pre-check’, ‘post-check’
5. Down the 1st column enter the description of the parts.
6. Down the 3rd column enter the number of parts required to build the basic Rover.
Engineering Team: For your duty roster of the day, you must access the drawings of the rover you accomplished, and describe in
Microsoft word the reasoning behind your design. You may visit the following sites prior to refresh your memory about the design
specifications.
http://redrover.planetary.org/home.html
http://planetscapes.com
Team Leaders: You must coordinate all activities. Your duties include assuring the success of the other members. You may visit the
associated sites of the team and offer your assistance where you feel it will help the team develop the best project. A review of the
sites:
Geologists:
http://www.mars-sites.arc.nasa.gov/
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/msss/camera/images/11_22_99_spld/index.html
Engineers:
http://redrover.planetary.org/home.html
http://planetscapes.com
Lesson Plan # 4- Exploring Fragile Payload landings.
The Incredible Egg Drop Challenge
Background
The Pathfinder entered the upper atmosphere of Mars at 7.6 kilometers per second at a 14.2-degree angle
(see figure 1).
90 vertical.
Mars
The Pathfinder achieved its peak atmospheric shock, encountering forces 25 times Earth's gravity (25 g's), at 32
kilometers above the surface. At 10 kilometers above the ground, a parachute was deployed at nearly twice the
speed of sound (400 meters per second). Rockets inside the backshell fire's to further slow the lander's descent.
Shortly before landing, a set of airbags inflated to cushion the impact. After a few seconds, the tether attaching
the lander to the backshell and parachute was severed, and, with 90 percent of the fuel expended, the rockets
carried the shell and other debris away from the landing area. Then, protected by its airbags, Pathfinder
bounced on the Martian surface, perhaps as high as a ten-story building, before finally coming to rest after its 8month journey.
Mars does have an atmosphere, but it's very thin. Therefore a descent device that relied solely on a parachute to
slow it down would not work nearly as well as on Earth, unless it were much bigger. This, in turn adds weight
and volume to the spacecraft. Mars has only about one third of Earth's gravity. Therefore, objects fall more
slowly on Mars.
Vocabulary
Deploy - to release, open up an object.
Descent - Description of an object in a downward motion, usually observed from space to a planet.
Gravity - The force holding you upon the Earth (in this context).
Kilometer - 1000 meters.
Payload - the mass of the object falling into the Mars atmosphere (in this case).
Schematics - accurate drawings to scale measured and redrawn for communication.
Instructions:
We are going to simulate the landing with limited supplies to reenact a landing for our Rover. You have exactly
one class period to design and build a lander out of some or all of the materials they have received. The fragile
payload they will be challenged to land safely is the egg which when placed in their "descent module", must
survive a fall of two to three stories without breaking. Log the process and in your documentation include
schematics (drawings).
Reference: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/teachers/tg/acrobat/mars2.pdf notice some changes from original lesson plan.
Lesson Plan # 5
Press Release
Communications experts we need a press release to distribute to the community about your work in progress. At NASA and other
engineering, scientific firms that sub-contract to NASA must justify their expenses to the public. Your duties today are outlined in the
steps below.
Before you go to the computer write answers to the following questions as concisely as you can (on separate pieces of paper):
1. Make an outline the Red Rover project as it pertains to our class at M. O. Bush School.
2. State these goals and descriptions above in no more than two sentences.
3. What are we currently working on? Geology? Engineers? Inventory specialists? Leaders? And Communications personnel?
4. What do we hope to gain or learn from this experience?
Now confer with the other communications experts and discover who you believe expresses most clearly and efficiently the answers
to each of these questions. It may not be the same person for each question. Nominate one person to go to the computer to enter the
press release in English and one in Spanish. The remainder of you can go back to your groups and record procedures of the geologists
and engineers for the day.
Instructions at the computer:
13. Put the disc with your pictures in the floppy drive (A).
14. Go to ‘control panel’, and hit the icon that says ‘drive A.’
15. Look at all of the group’s pictures; choose the one that best describes the progress we are making in this phase of the Red
Rover project. Write down the number associated with this picture.
16. Click on start (lower bottom left corner) and go to programs, click on Microsoft word.
17. Place your Name in the upper right corner of the page, go to the second line and tab over to line up with your name and enter
the date.
18. Hit enter twice.
19. Enter a paragraph that contains the sentences the communications people decided answered the above questions the best.
Make sure the ideas flow in the paragraph.
20. Go to the Insert command at the top of your screen, click on this command.
21. Scroll down to the ‘picture’ command, when the arrow to the right has some new commands select ‘from file’.
22. You may have to use the blank next to the words ‘look in’ and scroll down to ‘3 ½ inch floppy (A:) and click on this to
retrieve pictures.
23. Highlight picture you want to insert and click on ‘insert’ at the bottom right corner
24. Save your work by going to the File command and hitting ‘save as.’ Pick an appropriate name.
25. Print your work if deemed appropriate by Ms. Johnson.
26. Remember both the English and Spanish versions must have the same basic content and they will be saved in two separate
files.
Geology Team: We need to review the landscape on Mars. You should obtain the papers with notes on the pictures you worked on in
your groups 2 weeks ago and visit these sites (quickly and first at the computer):
http://www.mars-sites.arc.nasa.gov/
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/msss/camera/images/11_22_99_spld/index.html
Continue to describe the pictures you observe at these sites on the logbook, so that we may determine the site at which we will run our
Rover on. Designate two people for today that will take notes on the methods you decide to employ. This will be very helpful when
you justify your design and describe the procedure you used to create your masterpiece. Then continue your work on the terrain.
Inventory team: Your mission is to enter the data for the parts of our rover in an easily accessible file for updates. The procedure is:
7. Go to Start on the lower left corner of the screen.
8. Scroll up to Programs.
9. Go over and click on Microsoft Excel.
10. Across the top row enter ‘description’, ‘item #’,’number required’, ‘pre-check’, ‘post-check’
11. Down the 1st column enter the description of the parts.
12. Down the 3rd column enter the number of parts required to build the basic Rover.
13. Save your work.
If you have previously done this portion, as I know Billy and Denise have. You must now learn to adjust the column widths for the
information entered, add a cost column, and insert functions for automatic computation of the prices of the pieces we use. The steps
for this are outlined below:
Lesson Plan # 5 (continued)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Insert the disk with your Excel file and follow steps 1-3 above.
When the Excel program comes up go to the ‘files’ button on the top and scroll down to ‘open,’ hit this and when it opens a
window for the directions to find the file hit the down arrow key by the box in the upper middle part of this window. Scroll
down to ‘drive A’ click on this. It should show your file. Click on your file and then hit the ‘open,’ in the lower right hand
corner of the window.
Click on the longest word in the description of parts column and go up to the ‘Format’ button at the top of the screen. Scroll
down to ‘column’ and over to ‘Autofit’ click on this option.
Repeat step 3 for any columns that the text doesn’t fit in the columns.
On the top line add another column for ‘# used’, ‘cost’, and ‘sub-total’.
If you wish to keep the spacing columns you left in from the last entries you should click on the top ‘cell’ and go to ‘format’
then ‘column’ and ‘set width’ put a 3 in where the number is in the window that pops up and say ‘ok.’ Repeat for all spacing
columns.
In the column you make called ‘# used’ you will enter the actual number of each part as your team uses it on your rover (don’t
put anything but the number in this column).
Go to the cell directly under the ‘sub total’ and click on it. Go up to the symbol that looks like this:
fx
Click on this (it is your function button). Scroll down to ‘product’, notice the description at
bottom of this
window. Say ‘ok’. Another window will pop up asking what columns you wish to multiply. The format for this is “column ‘k’ and
the row number (should be 2) : column ’l’ and the row number (should be 2)” where the ‘k’ and ‘l’ stand for the column letter
above where you placed your ‘#items’ and ‘cost’. You can enter a fake cost and # of items used and check if your function
performs as you wish.
9. Click on the cell you just gave a function with fake values in it. Place your cursor at the lower right corner with the little square.
Pull the selection down to the last row of items you have entered. This will enter the function with the corresponding row
values in every cell under ‘sub total’. Very cool huh!
10. Skip a row after the last entry and add another function in the cell below ‘sub total’ but this one is different. Instead of
‘product’ you choose ‘sum’. Then when the other window comes up you enter in the format ‘column ‘m’ and row number 2 :
column ‘m’ and row number last one with a part entry. Where ‘m’ stands for the letter above the column you placed your ‘sub
total’. This new function will give you the total cost of all parts used on your rover, so under description in the 1 st column place
the words ‘Total Cost’.
Re-save your file.
Section III – Students samples
From Lesson #3
Sample Excel project for inventory of basic kit:
Description
Item#
Number Required
Pre-check
postcheck
small pulley
bushing
#8gear
#24gear
crown
gear
#40gear
pulley
worm
drive
pulley band
connector peg
1x2 plate
1x4 plate
1x8 plate
Sample responses to students’ questions for NASA engineer:
[ FannyZuniga - 52 - 18:55:41 ]
RE: [Zasquia] What made you pick this kind of job (project for low-speed wind-tunnel tests)?
Hi Zasquia, I picked this project to work on because I wanted to contribute to developing this Supersonic
Transport. I thought it was an exciting project and one of the most challenging problems was trying to make this
transport takeoff and land safely. I've always been interested in learning how airplanes and space vehicles fly so
this kind of work always interested me. I'm now working on designing new space vehicles that can reach space
easier and land with more ease. I always knew this was the kind of work I wanted to do since I always had a
genuine interest in airplane and spaceflight.
[ FannyZuniga - 53 - 18:59:26 ]
RE: [Megan] Have you ever been inside a space shuttle?
Hi Megan, Yes, I took a peek inside the shuttle once a long time ago when I was working at Dryden Flight
Research Center. The shuttle would land there routinely so I got the opportunity to take a tour around the shuttle
while it was there. I was amazed at how small the living quarters were and how huge the shuttle really is. It's
really amazing to see it up close. I'm lucky I had the good fortune of getting up so close to it.
[ FannyZuniga - 54 - 19:08:29 ]
RE: [DeniseGilbert] What do you hope you will discover throughtout this year?
Hi Denise, That's an interesting question. I've been working so hard recently I haven't stopped to think what I
want to accomplish this year. As I mentioned before, I started a new job recently since the Supersonic Transport
project was cancelled. I'm learning all kinds of new things right now about designing new space vehicles and
making them easier to land. I'll be doing a simulator experiment later this year that will help us design better
space vehicles. A simulator is a pretend cockpit where pilots and astronauts practice flying. We will be
experimenting with new space vehicles and checking to see if the astronauts can handle them easily. In this
way, we'll be using the simulator to check out our newest space vehicle design before it actually gets built.
Hopefully, this will teach us how to build better space vehicles.
Appendix A
Internet Sites for Teachers and Students
Cool sites:
http://www.mars-sites.arc.nasa.gov/
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/msss/camera/images/11_22_99_spld/index.html - Good terrain information
http://www.tycho.dk/solar/eng/mars.htm - Good terrain information
http://observe.ivv.nasa.gov/nasa/fun/mars/mars.html - interactive Mars landing game, Fun!
http://www.marsacademy.com/traj.htm - this site gives good background on spaceship trajectory and appropriate vocabulary (many
concepts are more appropriate to High School level activities).
http://www.marsacademy.com/activ.htm - contains appropriate activities that cross-correlate to other academic endeavors.
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/education/modules/webpages/modulesobtain.htm - good activities from NASA pertaining to Mars exploration
in particular the search for water.
http://www.marsacademy.com/angplan.htm - higher level physics and math for lesson 2a.
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/teachers/learning.html - links to activities pertaining to Mars exploration.
http://www.pitsco-legodacta-store.com/index.htm - supplies and catalogue for Lego parts.
http://marsnt3.jpl.nasa.gov/education/modules/webpages/curriculumwelcomepage.htm - more teaching resources.
http://edu.larc.nasa.gov/connect/dates.w.html - "channel 1" program schedules with science and math pertaining to space exploration.
http://www.arval.org.ve/mpftrj.htm - trajectory animation interactive on web.
http://www.terryparker.duval.k12.fl.us/marsmap.htm - Johnson Space center activities.
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/teachers/tg/acrobat/mars1.pdf - wonderful activities from NASA.
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/teachers/tg/acrobat/mars2.pdf- wonderful activities from NASA.
Appendix B
Samples
Sample 1: Badges created
from students' applications.
Denise Gilbert
Adriana
Megan
Shyre
These samples of badges include the 'all
girls team' we assigned, and the teachers’
badges. Note: the supplies for creation of
the badges can be obtained at any stationary
supply company. The teacher should read
the directions for computer set-up, as not
doing so could cause costly mistakes. When
the file is created with the proper formats
the results will be excellent. Additional
advice; if you do not have a color printer the
local copy stores can produce the
professional badges if the teacher brings the
materials and the disc with the student
information, for a nominal cost.
Sample 1 (continued) - Different
team (blue) and Teacher's
badges.
Joe
Notice the symbols used are multicultural
and applicable to the job descriptions.
These can be obtained by using the 'insert'
function available in Microsoft Word and
using the Office 'clip art' extensions.
David
Mrs. Kurtz
Consultant
Ms. Johnson
Consultant
The colored dots can be created using the
drawing toolbar in Microsoft Word in our
classroom these were used to delineate the
different teams. The colors picked
matched common stickers available at
local stationary stores that were used on
basic inventory kits, etc. (see pictures of
inventory).
Sample 2 - Grade book for Red Rover Project – partial sample only
Name
2/1/2000
Draft
Description
2/3/2000
2/8/2000
Continue
Intro- Job with job
application applications - Introduction of
introduce introduce
position
duties.
grading
responsibilities
Candy core scheme &
in computer
samples
worksheets lab.
2/10/2000 2/15/2000 2/17/2000
Egg drop
The Great design
Egg Drop and build,
experiment sort basic
started kit
2/22/2000 2/24
Egg drop,
sort basic
kit Assign
AdvancedComputer Gear
inventory Lab - groups by
Ratio
problem position
build/
Araica, Nicole
Bechlead, Heather
Cervantes, Osvaldo
Cota, David
Davis, Shyre
Gilbert, Denise
Note: a legend is included in enlarged file and students are familiar with deciphering symbols.
Sample 3 - Work from Lesson #3.
Sample 4 - Inventory in Excel of excess parts for Sale. Notice the remainder contains a
function, a process we will teach the students for cost analysis.
Part Description
1x2 solid med. red
1x4 solid med. red
2x2 solid med. red
2x4 solid med. red
1xroof slant med. red
1x2 hollow med. red
1x4 hollow med. red
1x6 hollow med. red
1x1 slant med. red
1x2 slant med. red
Quantity Date out
22
6
4
8
6
34
24
9
6
6
Date in
Team color Amount received Remainder
0
22
0
6
0
4
0
8
0
6
0
34
0
24
0
9
0
6
0
6
Sample 5 - Homework #1 Inventory control.
Name___________________________________
Albert has 45 cents and needs some Lego parts to continue with his design on the Red Rover project.
Josh is the inventory comptroller and charges by the number of pegs plus a five-cent core deposit. Albert filled
out the following purchase order:
Quantity
Size
1
1x4
1
2x2
0
2x4
2
1x6
0
2x6
The 'size' in the above purchase order describes the shape of the part. An example would be a 2x2
would have 2 columns of pegs with 2 in each row, for a total of 4 pegs. Albert uses the entire 45 cents
to purchase his parts, how much is Josh charging per peg?
Sample 5 – modification of student basic kit (no spelling corrections for emphasis) inventory.
This version includes new functions for the cost analysis.
Description
small palley
bushing
# 8 gear
# 24 gear
crown gear
# 40 gear
palley
worm drive
pulley band
connector peg
1x2 plate
1x4 plate
1x8 plate
Item #
Pre-check
2
16
4
4
4
4
2
2
2
4
12
2
4
Post-check
Cost
3.25
2.05
0.05
0.35
0.5
0.25
1.25
2.05
0
0
0
0
0
# used Sub-Total
2
6.5
9
18.45
3
0.15
4
1.4
4
2
4
1
2
2.5
2
4.1
0
0
0
0
0
Sample 6 – Gear ratio assignment
Gear Ratio Homework
Name___________________
As we have been discovering when engineers refer to gear ratios, they talk about how many turns of each gear
relative to another gear. The technical terminology for these turns is 'rpm' which means revolutions per minute.
There is a formula for this ratio:
Rpm of large gear
Rpm of small gear
= number of teeth on small gear
number of teeth on large gear
Figure 1. Magnified view of a small gear on a section of a much larger gear.
As we can see from figure 1 the little gear will rotate many more times than the larger gear it is working with.
We can also visualize that due to the match-up of the teeth that the larger gear will have many more teeth than
the smaller gear. These facts are useful when an engineer needs to find an unknown piece of information while
performing computations. For example if the engineer knows the rpm of the small gear is 600, the number of
teeth on the small gear is 20, and the number of teeth on the large gear is 60. Then to obtain the rpm of the
large gear these values are placed in the above equation like so:
Rpm of large gear = 20
600
60
thus the rpm of the large gear = 20 x 600 = 200 rpm.
60
The engineer determines from the above analysis that this answer is reasonable due to the result of 200 rpm
states that the larger gear has many fewer revolutions than the smaller gear.
Gear Ratio Homework
Name___________________
Your mission is to determine the following unknown quantities:
Any or all of the following methods are acceptable: explain your thought process, draw pictures, and
use equations.
a.
We know that our smallest gear has 10 teeth and operates at 1200 rpm. The large gear has 120
teeth. What is the rpm of the large gear?
Is your conclusion reasonable? Why?
b.
The rpm ratio of a large gear to a smaller gear is 4:6. If the smaller gear has 18 teeth, how many
teeth does the large gear have?
Is your conclusion reasonable? Why?
Sample 6 – Straight line calibration Excel example for students. Note the inclusion of
formulas (point-slope) in this exercise.
Time
Distance
Terrain 1 Terrain 2 Terrain 3 Terrain 4
0
0
0
0
0
0.5
2
1.75
1.05
1.5
1
4
3.5
2
2.95
1.5
6
5
2.9
4.4
2
8
6.5
3.75
5.9
2.5
10
7.75
4.6
7.4
3
12
9
5.45
8.75
3.5
14
10
6.25
10
4
16
10.75
7.05
11.25
4.5
5
5.5
6
6.5
7
7.5
8
8.5
9
9.5
10
Velocity
Terrain 1 Terrain 2 Terrain 3 Terrain 4
0
0
0
0
4
3.5
2.1
4
3.5
1.9
4
3
1.8
4
3
1.7
4
2.5
1.7
4
2.5
1.7
4
2
1.6
4
1.5
1.6
Pictures 1 - The great egg Drop
Ms. Johnson’s First Period
The Great Egg Drop
We have been studying different aspects of planetary exploration. In our quest we wondered how a fragile, expensive device
might land on Mars. Our mission during this week entailed simulating possible landing devices for fragile objects. We had some
class discussion as to possible methods of landing a spacecraft on Mars and were given material from NASA and JPL to study on tests
they performed to explore this very question. Our materials as defined by the lesson used various components from household
applications such as paper bags, plastic bags, balloons, string, paperclips, etc. We had complete engineering design freedom,
restricted only by the conditions that could exist on Mars that we studied. Here are some pictures of our designs:
Quintin is very excited by this experiment. The students of the Pink (Adriana, Megan, Shyre, and Denise), Red, and Blue teams are
working very hard on their designs.
The yellow team had two models to build; the green team (Denise, and Zasquia) also had two models; this gave everyone the
opportunity to do engineering design.
Several trials of each design were performed by the students in the classroom prior to the final send-off from the roof. They dropped
their descent devices from chairs, standing, and from tables. The big day finally arrived Thursday February 17, 2000. They were
launching from the roof. Below we recorded the results by a picture and some data.
Of the seven designs only five were able to launch, and from these five, two eggs broke. We must mention the possible failure due to
high winds on this date. Another possibility could be in the designs themselves, apparently the red group didn’t use their balloons to
cushion the fall, the groups who did were more successful.
In conclusion we can build a design that will land a fragile object from the roof of a one-story building, and may be able to
extend some of the designs to obtain positive results from higher levels.
Pictures 2 - Inventory of excess parts for sale.
Pictures 3 – Geology terrain Starts!