Dropping Mars Landers

Twice each year brave parents trudge up to the roof of our school to throw things off onto the driveway below. In the fall, they toss the 5th graders' eggs - The Egg Drop - to see which ones have been protected enough to withstand the fall. In the winter, they toss the 4th graders' Mars landers.

The students are always happy to see their own parents up on the roof.

David tossed for Caroline's class so he figured he'd better toss for Katherine's!

They look so small up there! The wind was picking up by this point so the parents had to weigh many of the landers down with rocks so they wouldn't blow away prematurely!

Here are some of the landers being tossed over the edge!

The students (and teachers) graded the landers on durability - how well they survived the toss.

Here's Katherine's group's lander coming down.

The parachute worked well and the lander survived just fine even though the wind took it into the bushes!

Here's the group!

The girls and their rover. Inside each lander was a Mars rover. Once the lander actually lands on Mars, the rover comes out and takes pictures of the surface of the planet. This rover actually has a camera, a light bulb (!), and solar panels!

Always a fun morning. Can't wait for fall and the scrambled eggs!