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Mars Mission Control

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Grades 6-875-90 minSource: Creative Dad Company

Teams run a simulated Mars habitat, juggling limited power, water, food, and communication delay while an unpredictable mission event forces them to adapt on the fly.

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Every level teaches the same core idea — pick the one that fits your time, budget, and energy today.

Prep: 20 minActivity: 30 min1 session~$0/groupOne table or a clear section of floorBeginner-friendly

Setup

Print or hand-copy the essential prompt for Mars Mission Control, then set out only paper, pencils, and the common or recycled items needed for one test. Use a tabletop representation whenever the original version mentions a room, specialized device, or digital tool; the learning comes from the decisions and evidence, not elaborate scenery.

Activity

  1. Review real Mars habitat data and predict which resource — power, water, food, or communication — will be hardest to keep stable over a simulated ten-day mission.
  2. Build a resource-tracking dashboard on poster board and allocate starting token supplies across each system for the crew.
  3. Draw mission-event cards each round that create shortages or equipment failures, forcing the team to trade resources and revise their allocation plan mid-mission.
  4. Present a mission debrief explaining which failure hit hardest and what backup plan saved the crew.

Done when: The group has completed Mars Mission Control when it can present a mission debrief explaining which failure hit hardest and what backup plan saved the crew and point to the observation, measurement, comparison, or trial that supports its conclusion.

Materials

index cards, dice, poker chips or beans as resource tokens, timer, poster board, markers

Shown for the Quick Start version — switch tabs above to see what changes.

Disclosure: Materials links below go to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Steps

  1. Review real Mars habitat data and predict which resource — power, water, food, or communication — will be hardest to keep stable over a simulated ten-day mission.
  2. Build a resource-tracking dashboard on poster board and allocate starting token supplies across each system for the crew.
  3. Draw mission-event cards each round that create shortages or equipment failures, forcing the team to trade resources and revise their allocation plan mid-mission.
  4. Present a mission debrief explaining which failure hit hardest and what backup plan saved the crew.

Standards it satisfies

  • NGSS · MS-ESS3-1

    Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth's mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.