Launch your students to the moon this September with the free “Build to Launch: A STEAM Exploration Series.” A new digital interactive learning program from LEGO Education and NASA, the series aims to get K-12 students interested in future space engineering careers, according to LEGO Education. 

Just like real-life NASA engineers, students will work in teams to figure out how to launch spacecrafts out of this world. During the series, kids will follow and engage with the LEGO® Space Team, which is made up of animated LEGO® characters that work just like NASA’s flight and ground crews. Students will even get to hold their own press conferences on the LEGO Education YouTube channel.

Lessons are designed with help from NASA to get students excited about the Artemis 1, an uncrewed test mission to the Moon set to launch in November. Inspired by the mission, learning modules will teach students valuable engineering skills, including hands-on designing and prototyping, iteratively testing, and using teamwork to build and assemble parts similar to the most powerful rocket ever built, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which Artemis 1 will take off from.

The series includes: 

  • 10 weeks of space-themed STEAM curriculum in which students apply STEAM practices focused on educational standards and explore forces and motion, energy transfer, and computational thinking
  • Three lesson themes that reflect the different STEAM careers at NASA and the various stages of launch preparation for the Artemis I mission
  • Interactive episodes in which students and teachers can ask questions of NASA and animated LEGO® Education characters
  • Open-ended prompts that encourage students to be creative and engage them through interactive learning. 

The series will also provide teachers with a resource guide to support the open-ended lessons.

Do you want to learn more about aerospace engineering? Check out this IEEE TryEngineering Tuesday: Aerospace Engineering.