Environment Domain

In the this project, students were challenged with exploring energy conservation and transformations while applying the engineering design process and coding to create a robotic model of a renewable energy source to use as evidence in an energy debate. There was a twist, however, students were invited to be martian pioneers. For one million dollars, students were given the opportunity to relocate to Mars, taking with them their energy source which they had to adapt to the new martian environment. I first encountered coding during the "Coding, Robotics, and 1:1 Devices" NASA Endeavor course. Students utilized SNAP code, similar to SCRATCH code introduced in the course. The Hummingbird kits were discussed during a live session of the coding course and immediately sparked conversation among myself and my colleagues as we were exploring a Tennessee Valley Authority grant. We were awarded a $5000 grant from TVA to purchase 12 Chromebooks, 12 Hummingbird kits, and rechargeable batteries.

In semesters past in my classroom, students concluded a unit on nuclear chemistry with research about various energy sources that would lead to a class debate about the best source to bring to the local community. After the Endeavor courses, this project was transformed into an engineering challenge to build and code a robot to represent the energy transformations in their energy source. Granted the project timeline increased a great deal, the increased rigor, integration of content areas, and sheer excitement in my students skyrocketed.

The Mars twist allowed for further NASA Endeavor resources to be utilized. Pathfinder 360 and Mars Rover 360 provided students with a close-up view of their new terrain. Also shared in the "Methods of STEM Education" course Gateway to Mars was shared which provided a further platform to begin their research and revision of their prototype.