Plan a Mission to Mars
Mission Control Is Ready. Is Your Class Prepared to Explore Mars?
Mission Control has approved a new journey to Mars, but the crew, supplies, habitat, and exploration plan have not been chosen. That’s where your students come in.
Your Class Becomes a Mars Mission Planning Team
Working in mission teams, students choose four astronauts, manage a $60,000 budget, and select the supplies their crew will need on the Red Planet.
Teams use what they learn about Mars to design a safe habitat, calculate rover distances, and make a plan for exploring the planet. When an unexpected challenge threatens the mission, students must reconsider their choices, solve the problem, and defend their decisions with evidence.
A teacher-guided slideshow leads the class through every stage while the student booklet keeps each team’s plans, calculations, designs, and discoveries organized.
It’s one connected adventure filled with science, engineering, math, reading, writing, teamwork, and real-world problem-solving.
How the mission works
From mission briefing to final report, one plan at a time
Students build one connected mission plan from start to finish. The crew they hire, the supplies they buy, the habitat they design, and the route they plan become the resources they use when trouble reaches Mars Base.
Mission budget $60,000Crew 4 of 6 candidatesRover range 16 or 24 miles
- Mission Briefing
-
Build knowledge
Research Mars
Students read three nonfiction passages and answer questions about Mars, the robots that have explored it, and Ingenuity's first powered flight on another world. Five short video connections from National Geographic and NASA add real footage and mission context.
-
Set the plan
Choose a mission and crew
Teams choose to explore the land, search for water, or prepare for future astronauts. Then they hire four of six astronaut candidates, calculate the crew cost, and defend why those skills belong on their mission.
-
Manage resources
Build the budget
Teams begin with $60,000 and pay their crew first. With the money remaining, they shop for optional supplies and upgrades without going over budget. Then they identify their three most important purchases and explain one supply they decided not to buy.
-
Design for Mars
Create a safe habitat
Students identify what a Mars habitat must do and the limits their design must follow. They plan the required rooms, choose a greenhouse or rover garage, draw a labeled floor plan on a grid, and calculate area and perimeter.
-
Map the route
Plan a rover exploration
Five sites wait beyond Mars Base, from a rock field 4 miles away to a mountain 10 miles away. Teams calculate each round trip and determine which locations their basic or upgraded rover can reach on one charge.
-
Respond safely
Solve a mission challenge
A full-color challenge card brings a dust storm, a broken rover, a water problem, or another emergency. Teams restate the problem and develop a safe, reasonable solution using the crew and supplies they selected earlier, then compare possible plans.
-
Complete the mission
Report back
Students interpret rock collection data, create a scaled bar graph, and write a complete mission report. They explain their goal, crew, supplies, learning, and challenge solution, then create a mission name, motto, and original patch.
- Mission Accomplished
The whole-class slideshow
25 colorful slides guide the mission
Project the slideshow and follow along as it introduces the story, videos, mission choices, astronaut candidates, supply store, habitat, rover map, challenge, data, and final report. Your Turn boxes point students to the matching booklet pages.
Cross-curricular by design
One Mars Mission Connects Four Subjects
Science, math, reading, and writing work together throughout the project. Students gather information, make decisions, apply skills, solve problems, and communicate a mission plan built from their own choices.
Science
Students build background knowledge about the real conditions and robotic exploration of Mars. Habitat design and mission challenges support engineering design connections as students identify needs and limits, develop safe solutions, and compare plans.
Math
Students subtract crew and supply costs from a $60,000 budget, solve multistep problems, calculate rover round trips, find habitat area and perimeter, interpret a data table, and draw a scaled bar graph.
Reading
Three nonfiction passages introduce Mars, the robots that have explored it, and the Ingenuity helicopter. Questions ask students to find information, make inferences, interpret photographs and maps, and support responses with evidence.
Writing
Students justify their mission, crew, and purchasing decisions, explain a safe response to a challenge, and report on their completed plan in full sentences. An optional extension adds evidence-based opinion writing about human travel to Mars.
What's included
Your Complete Mars Mission Toolkit
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Student mission booklet | 27 pages |
| Whole-class slideshow | 25 slides |
| Teacher notes and answer keys | 22 pages |
| Google Slides version | Included |
| Nonfiction passages with questions | 3 |
| Video connections: NASA and National Geographic | 5 videos |
| Mars Mission Challenge Cards | 8 cards |
| Mission letter | 1 |
| Student rubric with scoring bands | 1 |
| Optional extension activities | 4 |
| The complete mission, in one download | $12.00 |
- 8-10 class periods
- Plan for about 45-60 minutes a day, with an included pacing guide.
- Three ways to teach
- Use the booklet independently, guide the whole class, or form small-group mission teams.
- Print + digital
- Printer-friendly booklet, projected slides, and Google Slides versions for students and teachers.
- Teacher support included
- Teacher notes, answer keys, pacing, standards connections, a rubric, and challenge solution ideas are ready.
Peek inside
Inside the Mars Mission
Standards
Meaningful Standards Connections
A detailed Standards Alignment page explains where each skill appears. The math directly practices Grade 3 and Grade 4 standards, while Grade 5 students use it for purposeful review and application. Science standards are supporting engineering design connections, not a complete NGSS assessment.
| Science |
3-5-ETS1-1: Engineering design connection through identifying what the habitat must do and the limits students must work within. 3-5-ETS1-2: Engineering design connection through comparing a challenge solution with another team's plan or a second possible plan. Mars content builds background knowledge. NGSS includes no solar-system performance expectation for Grades 3-5. |
|---|---|
| Math CCSS |
3.NBT.A.2: Add and subtract within 1,000 using budget amounts in thousands 4.NBT.B.4: Add and subtract multidigit whole numbers using full budget amounts 3.OA.D.8 and 4.OA.A.3: Multistep word problems 3.MD.B.3: Scaled bar graph 3.MD.C.7 and 4.MD.A.3: Area 3.MD.D.8 and 4.MD.A.3: Perimeter |
| ELA CCSS |
RI.3.1, RI.4.1, and RI.5.1: Questions, inferences, and evidence from informational text RI.3.7, RI.4.7, and RI.5.7: Information presented visually through photographs, maps, charts, and graphs W.3.2, W.4.2, and W.5.2: Informative and explanatory responses W.3.8, W.4.8, and W.5.8: Recall and gather information from provided sources W.3.1, W.4.1, and W.5.1: Optional opinion writing extension SL.3.1, SL.4.1, and SL.5.1: Collaborative discussions in mission teams |
Questions teachers ask
Prepare for Launch
How long does the mission take?
Plan for 8-10 class periods of about 45-60 minutes each. The pacing guide organizes the core mission across eight days, with optional extension activities and team presentations for days 9 and 10.
Will I need special materials?
No special science materials are required. Gather a booklet for each student or team, one Mission Tracker per team, printed challenge cards, a ruler, scissors if students will cut the cards, and coloring materials for the cover and patch.
Are the materials in color or black and white?
The whole-class slideshow, Mission Letter, and eight Mars Mission Challenge Cards are in color. The 27-page Student Booklet is printer-friendly blackline, so students can color the cover and mission patch.
Is a digital version included?
Yes. The download includes Google Slides versions of the whole-class presentation and the student booklet. Students type their responses into blue answer boxes in the digital booklet.
Is this a real NASA mission? Has anyone been to Mars?
No person has ever been to Mars. The student mission is a future crewed mission planned by a fictional Mars Exploration Team. The nonfiction passages and linked videos feature real Mars robots, flights, launches, and landings.
Can I adjust the project for my students?
Absolutely. Make it easier by working in thousands, providing a partly completed crew chart, or reading passages aloud. Add challenge with the perimeter of every habitat room, a second challenge card, team presentations, or any of the five Grade 5 extensions.
Take Your Class on an Unforgettable Mission to Mars!
One download is all it takes to turn your classroom into Mission Control, and send your students on an unforgettable journey to Mars tomorrow morning.
Share it: heart2heartteaching.com/marsmission