Welcome to the Lunar Rover Research Challenge!
The challenge is for students to design a rover mission to find frozen water at the South Pole of the Moon. The activity is structured as a collaborative board game or digital game where students are guided through the design process. They equip their rover with scientific instruments, choose a target, then determine where to take measurements.
Choose Your Experience
There are two ways to participate with your students:
| Condensed Classroom Experience 3-4 hours |
Competition Submission Experience 6+ hours |
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| Lesson 1: Learn An introduction to Canada’s roles in lunar missions. |
Lesson 1: Learn An introduction to Canada’s roles in lunar missions. |
| Lesson 2: Prepare An introduction to the rover mission, and how to play the game. |
Lesson 2: Prepare An introduction to the rover mission, and how to play the game. |
| Lesson 3: Design Play the Game: Condensed Version |
Lesson 3: Design Play the Game: Competition Version |
| No competition submission | Lesson 4: Pitch Complete the mission plan submission Adult: Submits to competition |
| Lesson 5: Reflect Reflect on the experience and explore careers in the space sector. |
Lesson 5: Reflect Reflect on the experience and explore careers in the space sector. |
Blended Approach
You can begin with the Condensed Classroom Experience with your entire class, then have some students continue with the Competition Submission.
You must register by March 31 to be able to submit to the Spring 2023 competition cycle.
The Game
The mission design activity is a collaborative game played in teams of five or fewer students.
Both the condensed and competition versions of the game can be played either digitally, or on paper. Choose the format based on your students’ abilities and the resources available.
What You Need
| Printable Game |
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| Pencils and pencil crayons or markers |
| One printed game set per team |
| Students must be co-located around the same table. |
| Digital Game |
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| One laptop or Chromebook per student |
| Internet and a copy of the Google Slides game set per team |
| Students can be co-located or remote. If remote, they must have a way to communicate. |
Quick Access to Game Resources
- Game Rules reproducible [Google doc] [Word doc] [PDF]
- Condensed or Competition Game Set reproducible
- Condensed [Google slides] [pptx] [PDF]
- Competition [Google slides] [pptx] [PDF]
- Competition map for 11" x 17" printing [PDF] (optional)
- Submission Requirements [PDF]
- Submission Rubric [PDF]
- Submission Template [Google slides] [pptx] [PDF]
- Graphing Tool [Google Sheets] (optional)
Submitting to the Competition
The competition submission has two parts: slides, and an optional video. For full details on supporting your students as they create their submission, see Lesson 4.
To prepare the submission:
- Review the Rules and Eligibility.
- Review the timeline for key deadlines.
- Register on behalf of your students, by the registration deadline.
- Have students play the competition version of the game and complete the submission template.
- Collect student submissions and confirm they meet the submission requirements.
- Upload the submissions to the portal by the submission deadline. You will receive your unique submission link via email*.
- Share the results once they are announced!
If you are one of the winning teams, your entire class will win the Rover Control Experience! Learn more about the prize.
* Review the FAQs if you have not received the email.