January 28 is the anniversary of the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. Families of shuttle crew members created the original Marsville program as homage to their loved ones' passion for space exploration.
The Canadian National Marsville Program (CNM) is a unique program derived from the Challenger Learning Center's Marsville program. The goal of CNM is to simulate habitation of the "Red Planet." Students prepare for their adventure by studying space exploration and the planet Mars and then apply their knowledge as they create mission patches, design and build models of human life-support systems, construct Martian habitats and share their findings with other students from across Canada.
Over a three month period, starting on January 28 and running to late April, student teams work cooperatively to clarify the requirements for their life-support systems, brainstorm solutions and construct working models. Students are able to share their results and challenge teams across Canada using Team Blogs.
The program culminates in a "Link-up Day." Teams from across a region come together to create Martian habitats in student-constructed, class-size plastic domes where the life-support systems are installed.
Marsville is non-competitive – the message is cooperative problem-solving!
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