Our Lady of Good Counsel 5 th Graders go to Mars 2008 Mrs. Steel’s 5 th grade class researches, investigates, and designs strategies to send a colony of 100 people to Mars

Led by Mrs. Marcie Steel, our two Social Studies classes of 52 students were broken up into 6 specialist teams. The Specialist Teams

The Mission Our mission is to help Nasa find ways to set up a colony of 100 people on Mars by the year Our first step was to break up our two classes of 52 students into 6 groups of mission specialists. Those specialists researched many things including: gravity and weather, food and shelter, oxygen and water, community and employment and culture on Mars.

Find out ways to build a colony that works around the planet’s gravity restrictions. Think about architecture, housing, education, sports recreation etc. Also think of ways to create or simulate their own weather on Mars. Gravity and Weather Mission Specialist Team had to….

Employment and Community Mission Specialist Team had to…. Come of with things for people to do. The kinds of jobs they may have Create communities Provide things that they value about their community and how they could recreate that on Mars

The Rocket Building and Transportation Mission Specialist Team had to… S olve the dilemma of visiting Mars during its period of revolution (687 earth days) Decide if they would either stay for 3 days or for a year until Earth and Mars line up well enough for that window of transport to open up again. Figure out ways to produce fuel to get home? Design and build spacecraft or Rover to get around Mars.

The Culture and the Arts Mission Specialist Team had to…. Think of the culture we enjoy today on earth? Think about the arts and their importance to us on Earth? Decide what would be important as far as culture and the arts go n Mars. Find ways to do things on Mars for fun. Find ways for people to unwind and enjoy culture, the arts, fashion, entertainment, etc?

The Oxygen and Water Mission Specialist Team had to… Find ways to produce oxygen and water on Mars Find ways to best use the main gas in the atmosphere on Mars (carbon dioxide.) Find out if the water they recently found on Mars can be used effectively for their colony. Find other ways to produce water on Mars. Find other ways to produce Oxygen on mars

The Food and Shelter Mission Specialist Team had to… Find ways to produce food on Mars. How to best use Carbon Dioxide on the planet to produce food or crops. Decide if there is any soil on Mars that can be used for food crops.

Gravity and Weather Mission Specialist Team 1

Gravity and Weather Team 2

Rocket Building and Transportation

Transportation and Fuel

Mars: Transportation and Fuel Group: Caitlin, Savannah, Alexis, Shane, and Justin On Mars most people don’t know how to get transportation or fuel. This group has found out some ways possible. Mars is close to the sun, so if possible we could use a solar powered engine to get back and forth. Solar powered is a fancy word for powered by sun or energy. If we were on Mars the sun could power a rocket ship or a rover so we can either get around Mars or fly back to earth. Since Mars is made up of about 95.32% of carbon dioxide and even less than 1% of oxygen and maybe a small amount of water vapor it would be difficult to make fuels there to power a rocket or rover.

Transportation is difficult. You will need to have a rocket. Since Mars is the closest planet to the sun it is very hot there. You could melt. (Burn) If the rocket does not have the right metal it could melt on its way to Mars. The rocket would be damaged. The heat might, or not, be able to hurt you, most likely not kill you but if not in the right gear who knows what would happen? Transportation could be any kind of rocket, spaceship or way to get to Mars, but one thing you should keep in mind is that if you get there, there should be enough fuel to get you back to earth.

Oxygen and Water Team 1

The Mars assignment we had was to do oxygen and water the group was divided like this: Katie was the Organizer and she contributed pictures, ideas, and did most of the design Katherine was the secretary and I contributed pictures, gluing of pictures, and typing up our ideas. Anthony was the time keeper. Kurt was the leader and contributed by finding info, cutting pictures, and leading the group. Oxygen and Water

Oxygen and Water Team 2

Food and Shelter Team 1

Food and Shelter Space Food Many people are curious about what astronauts eat in space. Nasa nutrition’s appetizing food while they’re living orbit. Nasa space food scientists are developing an Advanced Food System that will keep mars safe. Shelter on Mars The Mars Exploration Rovers have weathered two drab winters on the Martian surface, and mission managers are already looking ahead to yet a third chilly season. All this from a mission that was only designed to last 90 days. The Spirit rover is searching for a spot to stick it out during the upcoming Martian winter, which will last from March 2008 through October 2008, according to a statement from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.Martian winter

Although Mars has a tilt similar to Earth's, Martian seasons last longer because the planet takes almost twice as long to circle the Sun—almost 687 Earth days. "When you're talking about the rovers surviving winter on Mars, planning many months in the future is really important," said Steve Squyres, principal scientist of the Mars Exploration Rover team at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. "But it's too soon to tell where we might situate them.“

Science on a hill The solar-powered robots take an energy hit during the dim conditions, Squyres explained. "The sun gets very low in the sky, giving us a lot less solar power to work with," Squyres said. Fewer gusts of wind are around to clean dust from the rovers' solar panels gathered during recent dust storms, he added, which compounds the problem.recent dust storms So how do the rovers survive the winter while still doing plenty of science, as they did in 2004 and 2006? plenty of science “We try and park them on a broad, north-facing slope that helps them gather more sunlight," Squyres said. Scientists not only prefer a good slope, but a large and scientifically interesting one. "During the winter, it's essentially science on a hill," Squyres said. "If we're stuck on a small slope, we're much more limited in what we can investigate."

Food and Shelter Team 2

FOOD AND SHELTER FOOD Solar powered microwave *put in a packet and it cooks into real food Life supply of water SHELTER Engine powered dome with air consumed Machine that takes in lava and turns it into a heat source or food Houses made out of gravel We know that the Mars weather is 125 and 23 Fahrenheit (-87 to -5 Celsius), so the engine powered dome would have to very warm. We also found Mars Statistics, which includes its oxygen and more. This is located on our poster.

The members of our group are : Ashley - her job was ‘leader’, and she found some pictures, and wrote things down on the poster. She also brainstormed some ideas. Kaitlin - Her job is secretary, and I found pictures, wrote things on the poster, and found information on Mars. Matthew —materials, found pictures, created description of solar powered microwave, (located on poster.) Luke -materials, invented solar powered microwave and lava machine. Drew a diagram for us to help see what we mean. Bryan - timekeeper. Created ‘sculpture’ of Mars with Styrofoam, found Mars Statistics. AS A GROUP: We came up with engine powered dome ideas, and all created the poster.

Employment and Community and Culture and the Arts

Employment and Community Team 1

Employment and Community Team 2

Employment and Community Chris, Mark, Bridget, and Kelly We worked to make new jobs and a government for the people of Mars. Some of our ideas were: - Making mines - Constructing buildings - Forming and building a government - Making the landscape livable for comfortable living

Imagine Mars Our Mission was a successful one. We worked well together on our teams, and the ideas and suggestions flowed easily. We enjoyed thinking into the future and imagining all the possibilities of how we could survive on Mars. The most important lesson we learned is that we can work well together. We respected each other’s input and worked hard to make our ideas work. Thank you! Mrs. Marcie Steel Our Lady of Good Counsel School Moorestown, NJ