Designing Mars Rovers in Year 5

Story shared by Mark Pollard
on April 28, 2021

Computing, DT, Science, The Penpol Times, Year 5

Last term, as part of our Space topic, the children were inspired by the landing of Perseverance on Mars and so created their own versions of a Mars rover, complete with a motor so that it could move forward and, most impressively a lever system to enable it to pick up ‘space rock’ to study. The children had a great time making and designing their own rover and, who knows, maybe this activity will have inspired our next rover designers of the future.

After they’d made their rovers, the children used the iPads and iMovie to virtually transport their creations to the surface of Mars with some Green Screen magic.

You can enjoy some of these videos below:

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"I enjoyed making the Mars Rover. My favourite part was designing and decorating the rover, but we did have some trouble with our electrics"

Emily

Class 11

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