Introduction: Students will work in teams to compete for their vision of a 2050 Mars Colony. Each team will be assigned a specific enterprise of the designed world to develop a vision of how their enterprise will be on the first Mars Colony. Students will present their vision to the "New Earth Coalition" with the goal of their ideas being selected to be combined with the other enterprises to create the vision a "new designed world".
Estimated Time: 7-10 days
Resources:
Hooks / Warm Ups
Introduce the Scenario:
2050… The year that many theorists believe could be the beginning of the end of Earth. Many theorists believe the human pollution will tip the scales of survival in 2050. The exhaustion of necessary resources for humans to survive will have irreversible damage to the environment.
World leaders have formed the New Earth Coalition to plan for the colonization of Mars as a way to extend human existence. The New Earth Coalition will seek out ideas for the vision of the first Mars colony. Teams, who wish to have their ideas integrated into the first Mars colony, are asked to focus on one of the major enterprises of the designed world. Each enterprise of the designed world plays a vital role to the success of human existence on Earth. However, many enterprises are directly linked to the downfall of Earth. Most technologies utilized on Earth are due to many factors such as: established infrastructure, availability of materials, and societal demand or approval.
Mars provides an opportunity to have a blank slate and not be limited to the same factors on Earth and hopefully not make the same mistakes. The New Earth Coalition wants the Mars colony to not only have the necessary technologies to survive, but also serve as a beacon of innovation for the rest of the universe and the future of the human race.
*** Select your partner
*** Each group will write in 250 words on why the feel they should be picked to investigate a specific Technology for our Colony on Mars
Teacher Explanation:
Tasks:
Components from each of the enterprises below will be combined to create the first Mars colony.
(Instructor can ask for volunteers to select a category or assign them)
Student Facing Resources
DESIGN BRIEFS LOCATED HERE (assign to every student to review their design brief) - Design Briefs have been separated for each technology with supplied resources
Student Enterprise Templates - Complete Task 1
Teacher Instruction:
Possible Performance Standards Evaluated
Break out your creativity and start innovating or inventing! Your task is to ideate (generate ideas that can be visual, concrete, or abstract) the _______ world! Imagine the future of your assigned enterprise and what technology could allow people to survive and prosper on the Red Planet (Mars) better than on Earth. Your vision must contain at least 4 different ideas! Remember to be CREATIVE! You do not need to know all the little details of your idea such as how specifically it would work but it should adhere to the current laws of physics (sorry, no teleportation or time machines, YET!)
Student Enterprise Templates - Complete Task 2
Teacher Instructions:
Each Slide should include the following.
CHECKPOINTS: Day 1 - 2 ideas completed / Day 2 - Ideas 3&4 completed
Possible Performance Standards Evaluated
Student Resources:
Combine all of your research and ideas into 1 vision! Work with your teammates to try to plan out as many details of your vision as possible. This is where you critical thinking will be tested. The “required questions” should help guide you to formulating your vision. At this point, your team has probably discussed a lot of possibilities and ideas for your enterprise on the “New Earth”. Your presentation should fully explain how your team thinks your enterprise should be run in the colony as a whole. Your presentation should contain features such as pictures, flowcharts, maps, diagrams, or mind maps.
Make sure you are collaborating with the other teams (enterprises) to make sure you can support their vision also. Try to make sure you are not planning to do something that would conflict with another team’s vision of their enterprise. A colony will not be able to function properly if even one of the enterprises is misaligned. In your presentation, be prepared to explain how your team’s vision supports or aligns with at least 2 other enterprises.
Entry Event: Can a city today be built from scratch to house 6 million people/
Day 6
Day 7
Instructor can meet with 1/2 the class to discuss their overall vision.
Entry Event: What in this video do you feel will be true?
Possible Performance Standards Evaluated
Possible Performance Standards Evaluated