Launchpad Mission to Moon: 10 Engineering STEM Activities (K-5)
Through interactive sessions, Launchpad students become a team of astronauts challenged to complete 10 missions centered around a Journey to Moon. Each week, students will read a message from Astronaut Alex, who will introduce the activity, provide background context, and connect to a STEM career.
Grades: K-5
Teaching Duration: 1 month
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Lesson Overview
Launchpad begins with Stage 1 team challenges that build teamwork and communication skills. Astronaut Alex then guides the class through Stage 2 engineering design activities, and each unit is a progressively more complex design challenge as students arrive at and explore Moon. Units are aligned to science and math standards along with a different career focus and STEM word of the day such as teamwork, resilience, and leadership.
Through interactive sessions, Launchpad students become a team of astronauts challenged to complete 10 missions centered around a Journey to Moon. Each week, students will read a message from Astronaut Alex, who will introduce the activity, provide background context, and connect to a STEM career. Students will then engage in hands-on activities centered around the engineering design process.
Launchpad curriculum includes 10 STEM challenges:
Meet the Crew: Team Challenges
Astronaut Training: Moon Trivia Game + Astronaut Boot Engineering Challenge
Get to Moon: Straw Rockets Engineering Challenge
Welcome Tower*: Tower Engineering Challenge
Build a Base: UV Science Experiment + Shelter Engineering Challenge
Stay Alive*: Grow a Real Plant Device Engineering Challenge
Collect Samples: Grabber Engineering Challenge
Build Rover: Conductivity Science Experiment + Bristlebot Engineering Challenge
Entertainment on Moon: Roller coaster Engineering Challenge
Mission Success: Coke Mentos Geyser + Atomic Slime
*Prefer a Mars version? Find Mission to Mars here. Except for *starred activities, most challenges are similar between Mars and Moon versions.
Download includes: Find Mission to Mars here.
Intro to STEM Education
10 STEM Missions following a story line
Supply list with links
Alignment to NGSS and TEKS (Texas)
Step-by-step teacher guide with photos
Student mission sheets with real-world connections and photos
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