Mars Helicopters Engineering Design Challenge (STEM Activity)

lesson overview

Design a helicopter that can carry a payload across Mars! This is a great space-themed STEM engineering design challenge.

Activity Overview: Your astronaut crew has landed on Mars, and your team is ready to start exploring! NASA has directed your team to design and build a helicopter for a scientific expedition. Helicopters are important to help your team study the terrain, set up habitats, and transport items across the planet. Your mission is to design a helicopter that can carry and safely land a payload.

Students will first learn about helicopters, make a paper helicopter and then create their own helicopter to land a payload safely on the ground.  

Real-world STEM Connection:

• Overview of NASA's Mission to Mars

• How Helicopters Work & Helicopters on Mars

• Career Connection: NASA engineers and scientists working at JPL

As with many STEM activities, this challenge can be tailored to students of various skill levels and abilities.

Included in this product:

• Detailed teachers guide with links to resources

• Photos and videos of student examples

• Student handouts to guide them through the design process

• Videos to motivate and support learning

• Editable Google Slides STEM journal for distance learning

• STEM Career Connections and real-world examples

• Science handouts

• Student recording sheet for each step of the process

Suggested Materials: Many different materials can be used for this challenge. Here are some suggestions that worked well for our students.

• 4 oz paper cup

• ping pong ball (1 per group)

• String

• cardboard

• card stock

• construction paper

• cardboard tubes

• paper plates

• popsicle sticks

• rubber bands

• bendy straws

• tape, scissors, ruler

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Looking for more STEM lessons? Find the Vivify resource guide here: bit.ly/VivifyResourceGuide

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