These recommendations are tailored for organizations and clubs such as libraries, planetariums, science centers, astronomy clubs, and scout troops.
Consider conducting an event to celebrate engineering, robotics and (if it's the right time of year), National Engineers Week! The National Engineers Week website has many ideas and resources for engineering events. Events could include activities and speakers, such as local engineers (aerospace industries and NASA centers are a good place to start), and NASA's Solar System Ambassadors --ask them to join your events and share ongoing robotic missions with the children.
Be sure to submit photographs, artwork, music, or words of your community enjoying your activities to Share Your Stories.
| Egg Drop Lander || Students design a package to contain and successfully land a raw egg, unbroken from a fall to the ground. |
| Become a Dawn Young Engineer || Kids of all ages can become a Dawn Young Engineer by constructing Dawn paper spacecraft models and sending pictures of themselves holding their spacecraft to the Dawn team. |
| Create Edible/Non-edible Robotic Mission Models || There are a variety of activities in which students create a model of a planetary mission.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
| MarsBound! Mission to the Red Planet || MarsBound! is an engineering simulation activity in which children use realistic techniques to plan a mission to Mars. It is appropriate for children ages nine and up to young adults. |
| Rover Races Activity || Students learn the challenges of operating a robot on Mars from Earth. In this simulation, the rover drivers upload their commands to their rovers (team of three blindfolded students) to travel around obstacles on the Martian surface (red paper on the floor) and complete the mission. |