What did the Mars Rover Opportunity find as it landed on the Martian surface? Opportunity sent amazing and highly informative images back to NASA that has enabled scientists to better understand the Martian landscape. This clip is sure...

Introduce your class to the steps that occur in the manufacturing of parts, the assembly, and the testing of a Mars rover. Pupils learn about fabrication techniques and tolerances in the manufacturing process. 

Driving a Mars rover is a challenging task. Learners play a board game that simulates the decisions scientists and engineers make while controlling the rover. Their task involves building a command sequence to get from point A to point B...

Is it possible to contaminate the planets our astronauts or rovers visit? With current technology, it is impossible to send a completely sterile rover to Mars, and there could be up to 30,000 different microbes on the space traveler!...

The good thing about building this rover is you get to eat it afterwards. Pairs determine rover parts they want to include in their design based upon their cost and usefulness. The teams design their rovers, build them from edible...

In July of 2020, NASA plans to launch a new Mars rover. An out-of-this-world video explores this exciting mission. It describes goals of the mission and the many challenges involved. It also offers hope for new findings and new...

Operating a vehicle remotely can be difficult, especially when the vehicle is on another planet. Young engineers get a feel for some of the real-world challenges as they work to program their rovers (blindfolded group members) through an...

In this Mars Rover Landing worksheet, students are given an image of Mars near the Bonneville Crater. Students determine the image scale in the diagram and use it to find the diameter of the Bonneville Crater, the width of the Rover's...

Design and build a rover ... then eat it? This activity has groups of two design and build Mars rovers. The teams determine what instruments they want to include with their rover and plan a budget. They calculate the cost of the body of...

Help your class understand the importance of exploration using robots. with a resource that provides a short history of robotics as a lead into looking at Martian robotic exploration missions. The activity specifically looks at the...

Learn exciting facts about Earth's neighboring planet—Mars! Young scientists collaborate on a KWL chart about Mars, adding information as the activity progresses. Scholars listen while teachers read an article about Mars and watch...

How important is accuracy? Why can't we just get close to the right answer in math? This video explains the calculations that had to be correct down to the second in order to capture the photo of the Mars rover landing. The resource goes...

It turns out driving a remote rover from more than 50 million kilometers away is a difficult task. But, what if a drone could scout the terrain in advance? That is the premise of the proposed Mars 2020 rover. A SciShow Space series video...

Learn what it takes to explore Mars in the comfort of a classroom. Individuals experiment with computer programming using a free online resource while learning about the factors affecting Mars Rover explorations. They create a...

Take your science class on a hypothetical field trip to Mars with an engaging astronomy lesson. After first learning about NASA's Mars rover missions, young scientists plan their own scientific investigations of Earth's nearest neighbor.

Fly around the Martian surface. Pupils view a presentation on the planet Mars featuring a flyover that shows different views of the surface where rovers have landed and explored on different missions. As individuals watch the images, the...

Model the landing of the Mars Rover using an egg. The STEM activity has pupils create a landing device for a falling egg to simulate the landing of the Mars Rover. They test their devices through experimentation to safely land the device.

What does it take to land a large rover on the surface of Mars? Video explains the challenges including the distance and size. Then it focuses on the process of going from hurtling through space to slowing down enough to survive the...

Pack just enough to fit. Crews determine what personal items to take with them on a trip to Mars. Each team must decide what to take with them on a two-and-a-half year trip to Mars and whether their items will fit within the allotted...

Over half of the missions sent to Mars failed. Our closest neighbor in the solar system has a fascinating history that we just started learning. The video offers insights into this interesting planet that is literally covered in rust!

How do you design a rover to explore an environment we know nothing about? Scientists create unique vehicles for exploring underwater, extremely hot, windy, and other extreme environments. An installment from the SciShow Space series...