Build a Mars Habitat – Survive and Thrive … an addition to the Sun, Earth, Universe exhibition

January 1st, 2020 - December 31st, 2022 | PROJECT

To build understanding of the essential needs involved in human exploration on Mars, the museum will create the Build a Mars Habitat – Survive and Thrive exhibit which allows museum visitors, especially school field trips and families with children in grades 4-8, to design and construct their own imaginary habitat for successful living on Mars using interchangeable building pieces. This would be designed to appeal particularly to girls, be accessible to audiences using a universal design approach, and be understood by Spanish-language visitors. Partnerships include the National Informal STEM Education Network (NISENet), NASA Ames Research Center, and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. The project team will also develop professional development materials for both facilitated and unfacilitated experiences to accompany the exhibit. This immersive experience augments the existing “Sun, Earth, Universe” exhibit that was recently distributed to 52 science and children’s museums across the U.S. by NISENet, collectively reporting attendance of over 10 million visitors per year.  The exhibition serves as a platform for scientists and museum staff and volunteers to engage visitors with additional facilitated educational programming and hands-on experiences.  Anticipated STEM learning outcomes include audience’s increased interest and positive attitudes towards learning about space exploration, increase in informal education professionals’ capacity to engage public audiences in space exploration, and strengthened partnerships among NASA and museums.

Project Website(s)

(no project website provided)

Project Products

Survive & Thrive: Build a Mars Habitat NASA TEAM II: Front End Report
Survive and Thrive: Build a Mars Habitat NASA TEAM II: Formative Report
Build a Mars Habitat: Survive and Thrive Project Summative Evaluation Report

Team Members

Ethan Kruszka, Principal Investigator, Science Museum of Minnesota
Catherine McCarthy, Co-Principal Investigator, Arizona State University

Funders

Funding Source: NASA
Funding Program: TEAM II
Award Number: 80NSSC20M0030
Funding Amount: $1,000,000

Tags

Audience: Educators | Teachers | Elementary School Children (6-10) | Families | Middle School Children (11-13) | Museum | ISE Professionals
Discipline: Engineering | Space science | Technology
Resource Type: Project Descriptions | Projects
Environment Type: Exhibitions | Museum and Science Center Exhibits