Students flew to ‘Mars’ to learn problem-solving skills
Pennsylvania fourth graders investigated the red planet with augmented reality learning tools from Discovery Education and Verizon Innovative Learning HQ.
On a snowy morning in a Pittsburgh suburb, a team of fourth graders launched into third period with a singular mission: Ride a rocket to Mars to gather intel on the red planet and return home before lunch. Thankfully, they wouldn’t have to put on spacesuits and wrestle with zero gravity for this trip. The required equipment was a tablet, an augmented reality app (TimePod Adventures) and a lesson plan (Earth vs. Mars) from Discovery Education, available for free on Verizon Innovative Learning HQ.
A few months before this morning’s space trek, Lisa Gray, the STEAM specialist for Acmetonia Elementary School in Cheswick, Pennsylvania, was searching for classroom ideas when she learned about Verizon Innovative Learning HQ.
“I really try to focus on lesson plans that allow me to teach using materials I already have or that don't require extra equipment,” said Gray. For “Earth vs. Mars,” she had everything she needed.
Tablets in hand, Gray’s students bounced around the classroom like atoms, trying to land their pods on the volcanic dust that covers Mars’ surface. These voyagers needed to write code to get their ships moving.
“I can’t open the pod door!” one student exclaimed. “I’m on Mars!” another shouted. Students who had already landed on the fourth planet from the sun messaged classmates still in space about the proper procedures for touchdown.
The students’ mission required them to use their five senses to gather data and compare life in their new surroundings with the world they’d left behind.
Fourth grader Kennedy Ficorilli described what she saw on her interplanetary adventure: “There was no grass; there was only sand. The sky was gray instead of blue. It was really weird.”
Given the choice between living on Earth or Mars, which would these space explorers choose?
“I appreciate Earth’s nature and seasons,” said fourth grader Aiden Grainer. “It’s a great planet. But honestly, Mars is way cooler.”
Gray likes to relate her STEM lessons to the real world. “What kind of careers might a lesson like this lead to in the future?” she asked. Students answered: astronaut, engineer, programmer and more.
Pittsburgh is home to several engineering and tech-driven companies — ones that focus on infrastructure, paints, aerospace navigation and autonomous robots.
“I’ve had several students who have gone on to engineering careers. I feel very proud about that,” Gray said with a smile.
She was pleased with how smoothly today’s mission had gone. “This lesson was very easy to put together,” she explained. “I look forward to teaching other lessons from Verizon [Innovative Learning HQ] in the future.”
Verizon Innovative Learning is a key part of the company’s responsible business plan to help move the world forward for all. As part of the plan, Verizon has an ambitious goal of providing 10 million youth with digital skills training by 2030. Educators can access free lessons, professional development, and immersive learning experiences to help bring new ways of learning into the classroom by visiting Verizon Innovative Learning HQ.
