Lunar Crater STEM Challenge
This engaging STEM challenge is a fun way to incorporate the engineering design process into your classroom or afterschool program! Students use the engineering design process and explore the forces of motion to place a ball in a cup at the center of a 6-foot diameter circle without entering the circle.
Grades: 4th - 9th
Teaching Duration: 2 hours
“I used this as a resource for STEM day with some of my students that could not fully participate in all the STEM activities. Great resource. ”
lesson overview
This engaging STEM challenge is a fun way to incorporate the engineering design process into your classroom or afterschool program! Students use the engineering design process and explore the forces of motion to place a ball in a cup at the center of a 6 foot diameter circle without entering the circle. This challenge represents placing a NASA rover into the middle of the Apollo lunar crater for exploration as a potential human colony site. This challenge is great for a space exploration unit or learning about the moon.
This hands-on activity is an engaging design challenge that allows students to work in teams, apply the engineering design process, and connect math topics to real-world applications. As a student-driven assignment, the purpose of the teacher is to act as a facilitator. You will provide the structure to the project, but students will take an active role in designing and building a device to deposit a rover into the lunar crater. Our students have loved this activity, and we know yours will too!
Detailed teachers guide with links to resources
Student handouts to guide them through the design process
Student recording sheet for each step of the process
Math connection problems including ratios and geometry (circles, cylinders)
