By Jennifer James
Texas Learning and Computation Center

Mars Rover Celebration 2011 was the largest and most successful in its nine-year history. Approximately 550 students representing 29 elementary and middle schools brought 170 model Mars rovers to the University of Houston on January 29 to compete in several categories.

Among UH’s premiere outreach events, Mars Rover Celebration offers high-impact engagement in educational activities that inspire interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects, teaches students how to define and achieve a long-term goal, improves their oral and written communication skills, and emphasizes the importance of teamwork.

“Mars Rover Celebration is an enrichment program for grades 3-8 aimed at creating a much higher level of excitement about science and engineering than contemporary curricula do,” said Edgar Bering, a UH physics professor and founder of the event. “This program begins with the children researching Mars and choosing a question to investigate that really interests them. The teams decide how they’re going to address the question, then design and build a model rover that answers the question using what we charitably call art supplies.”

The program includes six weeks of preparation during which teams define and develop their rovers with guidance from their teachers, who participate in a training seminar and receive curriculum materials developed by Dr. Bering and his collaborators.

An integral part of the capstone event involved 90-minute campus tours with demonstrations and hands-on activities offered by faculty committed to enriching the event with critical STEM subject matter.

The excitement was palpable throughout the day as teams presented their mission objectives and rovers to a panel of expert judges trained by Dr. Bering to fairly evaluate the rovers in accordance with meticulously developed criteria for free form, radio controlled, and solar models. Quail Middle School student Eisha Rao shared her enthusiasm for the experience.

“I had fun with it and learned how to program stuff. I felt like I was an engineer making a rover that was actually going to Mars,” she said.

Parents and teachers were nearly as delighted as the children. Smith Middle School teacher Alex Swing commented on the program’s ability to engage students who are typically less motivated.

“I’ve seen students who get involved and are excited to participate in this every day after school who I never guessed would be interested in this type of program.”

The event was planned and hosted by UH’s Texas Learning & Computation Center (TLC2) in conjunction with the Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics (TIMES), and the departments of physics and engineering. TLC2 produced a compelling video (see http://vimeo.com/19771470) that captured the essence of the capstone event and the positive impact of the program overall.