Middle school students act as Mars exploratory rover engineers. They evaluate equipment options, determine what parts fit in a NASA-provided budget, and, given a parts list, use these constraints to design, build, and display their edible rover at a concluding design review. Includes link to high-school version of this activity.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Edible Rovers

Tags: Aerospace Engineering, Class Activities, Engineering Design, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, InSight lander, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Lesson Plan, Mars rover, NASA, Space

Alice Zhai’s curiosity about Hurricane Sandy’s destructiveness led to an outstanding high school science fair project – and a collaboration with a NASA scientist that produced a journal paper outlining a new statistical model for better predicting the economic damage from big storms.

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Filed under: K-12 Outreach Programs, Special Features | Comments Off on Teen Invents New Hurricane Damage Model

Tags: Alice Zhai, Engineering, girls in STEM, hurricane damage model, Innovation, Internship, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA, Science, Science Fair, STEM education, Women in Engineering