HOULTON, Maine — Have you ever wondered what it would be like to visit the surface of Mars?
That was the focus of a collaborative project involving seventh- and eighth-graders from Houlton Junior High School under the direction of science teacher Bob Richardson, last year and now the fruits of their efforts are being recognized.
The Mars Project was developed by Bob Richardson at Houlton Junior/Senior High and implemented in the 2012/13 school year. It was designed to engage middle school and high school students in the science and engineering associated with Mars exploration, making extensive use of Lego robotics and energy add-ons.
“The seventh grade designed and built Mars habitats that could be mated with Lego robotic rovers designed and built by the eighth grade,” Richardson said.
The innovative project was lauded as one of the best in the state and has now been adopted by five other schools, including one in New Brunswick.
“Our group was recognized as an exemplary K-12 project in Maine,” said RSU 29 Superintendent Mike Hammer at a recent school board meeting. “What these kids are doing with science and math is really cool.”
Houlton received about $6,000 from a STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) grant provided by the Perloff Foundation, the Maine Community Foundation and the Maine Space Consortium for the project.
The objectives for this mission were to explore the surface of Mars for ideal permanent colony locations, test technologies and procedures required to support human life over extended periods of time on Mars, and improve our knowledge of the planet’s environment.
“Just like the early explorers that came to America, astronauts that colonize Mars must be able to use its natural resources to sustain a long-term or permanent presence on Mars,” Richardson stated.
With no fossil fuels similar to the ones found on Earth, finding an energy source on Mars is the biggest challenge.
“Imagine how different our society would be if the Earth had no fossil fuels and we had to live in self-contained environments,” Richardson said. “These are the challenges humans will face when we decide to colonize Mars. The purpose of this project is for seventh- and eighth-grade science students to gain a better understanding of alternative energies and increase their exposure to engineering, technology and robotics. This is accomplished by collaborating on the design and construction of a hybrid of a self-contained Mars base and a very long-range traverse vehicle (VLTV). These vehicles serve as a mobile habitat that allows astronauts to explore different areas of the Mars surface for extended periods of time. The combined base and the VLTV are powered by various types of alternative energy sources.”
The project was integrated within the science curriculum over a period of several months. Science topics that supported it are measurement, geology, weather and climate, energy, energy resources, chemistry, and many other physical science concepts.
In addition to science content, the collaboration among students will foster creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, communication through technology and decision-making.
“We are extending this program to the Earth Project this year, where the seventh grade has built two towns run by different forms of alternate energies,” Richardson added. “They will build and program Lego robots to perform different challenges. In the spring the eight grade will build rovers that will acutely travel outside and be programmed to collect environmental data.”
