Our second in the Discovery Diaries series, The Mission Mars Diary is a free education programme for KS2/P5-7 students. Using the premise of planning and executing a mission to Mars, students ‘make their own book’ as they work through over 60 hours of STEM activities. Educators are fully supported by a suite a teaching resources, including teaching notes and curriculum guides, which are housed on a web portal, along with free downloadable worksheets for each activity.
Utilising Curved House Kids’ Discovery Diary model, the cross-curricular and multimodal aspects of each Mars Diary activity provide an entry point for every child, making STEM accessible and fun. This, combined with individualised learning which allows children to put their stamp on their diary, results in empowered and confident students with strong Science Capital.
The Mission Mars Diary is themed around the European Space Agency’s ExoMars Mission, which includes the development of a rover that will search for signs of life on the red planet. This provides a fantastic opportunity for students to explore important issues like sustainability, renewable resources and urban planning, while reflecting on how technology can support environmental goals.
The Mars Diary was written and developed by author Lucy Hawking and publisher Curved House Kids, along with a wonderful team of STEM experts and teachers who helped to make everything inspiring, informative and relevant. It was made possible by the generous support of the UK Space Agency, whose funding enabled us to send 20,000 copies of the Mars Diary book to students in the UK’s most deprived areas – completely free of charge.
With the ExoMars rover due to launch in 2020, the Mission Mars Diary is the perfect way to inspire the next generation of interplanetary explorers, while they follow the rover’s journey and research. It is available in book form, or as free downloadable activity sheets.
Highlights
- 60+ hours of KS2/P5-7 STEM-literacy content available for free download
- Finalist for the Sir Arthur Clarke Award for Education and Outreach Team, 2019
- Teaching notes with ideas for differentiation for each activity
- Curriculum guides for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
- Teacher timelines for easy programme integration into a term, half-term or intensive week
- Blank lesson plan and reflection templates
- Flexible structure that allows activities to be experienced in order, chapter-by-chapter, or used standalone for individual lessons
- Multimedia features including original video footage and a special message from ESA astronaut Tim Peake and other resources from real Mars missions
- Profiles of real, diverse STEM experts to help students ‘see’ themselves in STEM
- Hard copy books available as class sets, single copies or Home Education packs
- Incentives for students like Mission Badge stickers
- Approved for Children’s University Passport programme
- Available in English and Welsh