Transporting Martian Samples Using Engineering Design to Assess Thermal Energy Transfer, Forces, and Nature of Engineering

Abstract

Engineering activities often emphasize the practices of engineers but can sometimes feel disconnected from content. This engineering design activity ties together multiple Next Generation Science Standards and explicitly addresses the nature of engineering. We help students connect to authentic engineering through an activity wherein students design a capsule to transport samples from the surface of Mars back to Earth for NASA. Through this process, students define criteria for a successful design by contemplating the role of rovers and then design capsules by drawing on their knowledge of forces, motion, and thermal energy transfer. Finally, students test their designs and evaluate whether they met the criteria they set.

Keywords:

• STEM
• Engineering
• Nature of Science
• Nature of Engineering
• Forces
• Heat Transfer

Supplemental Materials

Teacher’s material list with prices—https://doi.org/10.1080/08872376.2024.2340361.

Additional information

Funding

This project/material is based on work supported by the Iowa Space Grant Consortium under NASA Award No. 80NSSC20M0107.

Notes on contributors

Isaiah J. Kent-Schneider

Isaiah J. Kent-Schneider ([email protected]) is a doctoral student and adjunct professor in the School of Education, Bridgid Miller is an undergraduate student in the School of Education, Emma Marie is an undergraduate student in the School of Education, Jayme Scheck is an undergraduate in the School of Education, Jerrid Kruse is the Baker Professor of Education in the School of Education, and Dan Chibnall is the STEM Research Librarian, all at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.