The School Buzz: Lewis-Palmer sixth-graders team up with NASA, JPL to design mock Mars rovers

NASA’s “Perseverance” Mars rover landed on the red planet recently. Historic, no question. And one local teacher went above and beyond to teach her students what kind of work goes into such a monumental project.

Sixth-grade science teacher Valerie DeLello teaches at Bear Creek Elementary in Monument. She signed her classes up with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory which was offering a program to teachers. The goal? Help kids learn more about how the Mars rover works by having students design their own.

After listening to real scientists and engineers explaining the design process of Perseverance, DeLello's kids built their own Mars rover replicas. They had to have at least two instruments on each rover to “test” the surface, atmosphere, etcetera. And then they had a fun mock “Mars Rover Landing Site” to really put them to the test.

DeLello says "we’re looking at some future space engineers!"

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