Science @ Home: Rockets & Rovers
Houston, we have an activity pack! Aspiring rocket scientists ages 8-11 are invited to blast off to other worlds for crafts, activities, and more.
Space is surprisingly close at just 62 miles above Earth’s surface—but heading into the wild interstellar yonder requires very special equipment. Spend four days exploring the spacecraft that cruise our Solar System through guided videos, hands-on crafts, and indoor/outdoor activities.
(Please note: While Science @ Home activities are designed to be conducted by kids, some little ones might need adult help with reading instructions and preparing crafts.)
Day 1: Exploring the Solar System
Every spacecraft launched from Earth has stayed within, or on the edge, of our Solar System. Today, you'll learn more about why things have stayed close to home—so far. (45-60 minutes)
Solar system scale (craft)
The Solar System is big. It took the Voyager 2 spacecraft 12 years to travel almost 3 billion miles to Neptune—even at an average cruising speed of 42,000 miles per hour! Create a scale model of our Solar System to get an idea of just how mind-bogglingly far the distances between planets really are.
Listen to instructions
Another view (activity)
Rockets and rovers word search (activity)
Day 2: Blast off!
Rockets are used to escape Earth’s atmosphere and launch objects into space—and are some of the biggest and most powerful machines humans have ever made. Today, get fired up to make your own mini-rockets. (45-60 minutes)
Anatomy of a rocket (coloring)
Rockets are vehicles designed to travel out of Earth’s atmosphere and into space. Find out why rocket design is so important for successful space missions.
Listen to instructions
Download page
Escucha las instrucciones
Descargar página para colorear
Strawkets (activity)
Rockets are powerful tools used to launch spacecraft, satellites, and even people into space. While your “strawket” may not make it into orbit, you’ll see the same high-powered principles in action in this activity.
Listen to instructions
Download instructions
Escucha las instrucciones
Descargar instrucciones
Hand helicopter (activity)
Day 3: Rovers, landers, and more
There is only so much you can learn from far away. By sending spacecraft to land on distant planets, we can discover more about their new homes up close using high-tech vehicles. (45-60 minutes)
Rover missions: Mars and Moon (video)
Anatomy of a rover (coloring)
Rovers travel to distant moons and planets to explore them up close and send discoveries back to Earth. They use a wide variety of tools to navigate faraway worlds on their own. Find out more about what their components do and what makes them go.
Listen to instructions
Download page
Escucha las instrucciones
Descargar página para colorear
Many ways to move (video)
All the worlds in our Solar System are extremely challenging to explore. Join Academy educators Josh, Mary, and Bing as they take a look at the surfaces of three different worlds—Mars, Enceladus, and the Moon—and compare different possible ways to explore them. You can follow along at home using NASA’s free Treks program and imagine how you might send a mission somewhere in the Solar System.
Day 4: Ready for launch
It's time to put your rocket science training to the test. Imagine where in the Solar System you'd like to explore, then cook up a plan that will get your rover there, solve a space mystery, and send its discoveries back home to Earth. (60-90 minutes)
Make a mission (activity)
Solar System mission mysteries posters (activity)
Mission control: Mars rover (activity)
Kid & caregiver extension activities
You may think you've gone to infinity and beyond, but there's always more to learn about the final frontier. Keep going!