Virtual Sojourner

Teachers' Resources

Project description: The activities in this curriculum module simulate a rover mission at a distant site--such as with the Mars Pathfinder mission to Mars. Information on rover location is by a picture taken by the lander (separate from the rover), instructions are "uplinked" to the lander (and transmitted to the rover) for it to move to a specified location, rover movement happens without direct observation (there is no camera on the rover), and all this happens within a time delay because of our distance from Mars.

Learning objective: students use scientific knowledge and methods to collaboratively design and implement solutions to engineering problems.

Specific teachers' support materials for this module:

• Activity 1: Driving Blind.
  
• Activity 2: Remote Rover Rock Hunt. Partner with another classroom and play the game. Participate with a colleague's classroom or find another classroom willing to play.
  
• Activity 3: Sim-Rover, a Web-based rover simulation (coming soon).
  
• Relevant Benchmarks/Standards for the module.
  
• World Wide Web links for Mars Pathfinder, robotics, future Mars missions, and educational organizations.