Topic: STEM

  • Plan a Mission to Mars Space Exploration PBL Grades 3-5

    Plan a Mission to Mars Space Exploration PBL Grades 3-5

    Plan a Mission to Mars is a space exploration project based learning mission for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade. 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.

    Working in mission teams, students read about Mars and the real robots that have explored it, choose one of three missions, hire four astronauts, manage a $60,000 budget, design a safe habitat, plan a rover exploration, solve a Mars Mission Challenge Card, graph their mission data, and report back. Every choice they make early on shapes the rest of the mission.

    This is a full PBL simulation, not a packet of worksheets. It works as a space unit, a STEM project, or two weeks of cross-curricular lessons.

    What’s Included:

    • Student mission booklet, 27 pages
    • Whole-class slideshow, 25 slides
    • Teacher notes, pacing guide, standards alignment and answer keys
    • Google Slides version of the slideshow and the student booklet
    • Three nonfiction passages with questions
    • Five video connections from NASA and National Geographic
    • Choose Your Mission and Meet the Astronauts
    • Mission Budget and The Supply Store
    • Design a Mars Habitat and Habitat Math
    • Plan Your Mars Exploration
    • 8 Mars Mission Challenge Cards with a solution guide
    • Mission Data and Graph
    • Mission Report, Mission Patch and Reflection
    • Mission Letter
    • Student Grading Rubric
    • Optional extension activities

    ❤️ Why Teachers Love It:

    ✅ Low prep. Print the booklet, print and cut the challenge cards, open the slideshow, and teach.

    ✅ Cross-curricular by design. Science, math, reading and writing all serve the same mission.

    ✅ Math with a purpose. Budgets, area, perimeter, rover distances and a scaled bar graph.

    ✅ Every answer key is done for you, plus ideas to listen for on every challenge card.

    ✅ Print + digital. Works on paper, in Google Classroom, or both.

    Standards:

    NGSS: 3-5-ETS1-1 and 3-5-ETS1-2, engineering design connections through the habitat and the challenge (supporting connections, not a complete NGSS assessment).
    Math CCSS: 3.NBT.A.2 and 4.NBT.B.4, 3.OA.D.8 and 4.OA.A.3, 3.MD.B.3, 3.MD.C.7 and 4.MD.A.3, 3.MD.D.8.
    ELA CCSS: RI.3.1, RI.4.1, RI.5.1; RI.3.7, RI.4.7, RI.5.7; W.3.2, W.4.2, W.5.2; W.3.8, W.4.8, W.5.8; SL.3.1, SL.4.1, SL.5.1; optional W.3.1, W.4.1, W.5.1.

    Please note: the Mars Exploration Team, the astronaut candidates and the mission itself are fictional, created for this simulation. No person has ever been to Mars. The Mars facts and the real missions and robots in the passages and videos are real and sourced.

  • Alaska Sled Dog Supply Challenge Force and Motion PBL Grades 3-5

    Alaska Sled Dog Supply Challenge Force and Motion PBL Grades 3-5

    Alaska Sled Dog Supply Challenge is a force and motion project based learning mission for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade. A storm is closing in, a remote research station is waiting for emergency supplies, and your students are the team chosen to complete the delivery.

    Students join the Alaska Winter Supply Team: they read about Denali’s real working sled dogs, build a team of four dogs, pack the sled under a 100-pound mission cargo limit, investigate how load and friction change the pull, choose a route, do the mileage math, and solve the challenges waiting along the trail. Every choice they make earlier decides how the mission ends.

    This is a full PBL simulation, not a packet of worksheets. It works as a science unit, a winter unit, an early finisher project, or a week of cross-curricular lessons.

    What’s Included:

    • Student mission booklet, print and go
    • Whole-class slideshow for projecting the mission
    • Teacher pages, setup notes and answer keys
    • Google Slides version
    • Nonfiction passages with questions, including The 1925 Serum Run
    • Mission Vocabulary
    • Force and Motion Activity
    • Meet the Sled Dogs and Build Your Sled Dog Team
    • Pack the Supply Sled, with a 100-pound cargo limit
    • Does Load Change the Pull? investigation
    • Choose Your Alaska Route
    • Trail Challenge Cards
    • Mission Report
    • Mission Letter
    • Student Grading Rubric
    • Optional extension pages

    ❤️ Why Teachers Love It:

    ✅ No prep. Print the booklet, open the slideshow, and teach. Nothing to cut, laminate or assemble.

    ✅ Cross-curricular by design. Science, math, reading and writing all belong to the same trip.

    ✅ Real force and motion. Students investigate friction and load with a fair test or a no-prep data option.

    ✅ Every answer key is done for you, including the math.

    ✅ Print + digital. Works on paper, in Google Classroom, or both.

    Standards:

    NGSS: 3-PS2-1, partial/supporting alignment with the hands-on investigation only (Option A). Supporting connections with either investigation option: 3-PS2-2 and 3-5-ETS1-1, 3-5-ETS1-2, and 3-5-ETS1-3. Conceptual connections: 3-LS4-2 and 4-LS1-1.
    Math CCSS: 3.NBT.A.2 and 4.NBT.B.4, 3.OA.D.8 and 4.OA.A.3, 3.MD.B.3, 4.MD.A.2.
    ELA CCSS: RI.3.1, RI.4.1, RI.5.1; W.3.1, W.4.1, W.5.1; W.3.2, W.4.2, W.5.2; SL.3.1, SL.4.1, SL.5.1.

    Please note: the sled dogs, the research station and the supply mission are fictional characters and settings created for this simulation. The Denali sled dog facts and the 1925 Serum Run are real and sourced.