Students will design a manned mission to Mars and present their plan through a news broadcast using two art forms. They will research specific roles like spacecraft designer or habitat designer. As a team, they will write a mission proposal and draw diagrams. Their news broadcast should creatively highlight their research and plans using tools like PowerPoint, models, role plays, songs or artwork. A rubric assesses the broadcasts' use of creativity, performance, planning and organization. The teacher reflection says students demonstrated critical thinking and design skills while having fun learning.

1. Teaching Critical Thinking Strategies in the Classroom through Aesthetic Experiences: Mars Mission By Andrea Shogren

4. Graphic Organizer

10. Rubric Little use of creativity in answering question to the task. Some use of creativity to answering some of the tasks. Adequate use of creativity applied to answering all tasks. Excellent use of creativity and imagination to answering all tasks. Broadcast- Creativity The performance was bland and did not keep the viewers’ attention. The performance was lacking in terms of enthusiasm and captivation, but reflected some effort. The performance was clear, and for the most part kept the viewers attuned. The performance was clever, easy to follow, and interesting to view. Broadcast- Performance The news broadcast was unorganized and did not reflect ample planning and effort. The news broadcast was scattered and addressed only some of the issues needed to complete the task. The news broadcast was organized, but did not address all of the tasks. The broadcast was organized, clear, and included all tasks involved in the mission. Broadcast- Planning and Organization 1 2 3 4