Mission to Mars was a series of thirty-minute presentations done by 8th graders under the circumstances if they were to travel to Mars and successfully colonize the planet. Approximately sixty to eighty people attended Mission to Mars, five teachers, and many parents. Every team consisted of six panelists. They have to keep in mind how they were going to keep the colony going long-term. The groups had to have responses to these questions. How will you get the colonists there, and how will you keep them alive? What is your purpose for this journey? How can your company win the rights to the mission with a persuasive pitch? Once on Mars, how will you respond when a crisis strikes? The groups of students pitched their ideas, then panelists and teachers gave them a grade. The teams are made up of eight students, and there are six teams of eight making forty-eight total students in the Mission to Mars convention. Each team had their own google slides presentation. Each person in their team had a different role they had to attend to, A captain, an engineer, a counselor, a medic, an academic, a tactical officer, an operations officer, and a communications officer. Each team member tended to a google slides presentation using historical connections, and scientific ideas.

Each group of eight had thirty minutes to do their presentation. Spending twenty minutes presenting their ideas and such, and ten minutes to solve the incoming disaster that each group was presented with. There were panelists such as Conley Ball who posed questions the groups had to answer.

A sample question from a panelist would be, “What will the structures consist of, and how will you protect them from radiation?” Said Freshman Panelist Conley Ball.

Each group had thirty minutes to do their presentation. Spending twenty minutes presenting their ideas and such, and ten minutes to solve the incoming disaster that each group was presented with. Their were many different types of disasters that were presented to the students, and they had to be prepared to deal with everything. The eight disasters the kids had to be braced against was alien contact, a zombie plague, oxygen failure, a secret colony, separatists, life extension, Martian children, and New World overload. Each group would find out what problem they were presented with once they were on stage so they had to be ready for all eight problems.

The winning team this year for Mission to Mars was Vesta 22, and captained by Frances Carlson. Their presentation was everything that people could have asked for being innovative, interesting, and original.

“All six of the teams were a virtual tie this year, with excellent, creative presentations overall.” Teacher Mrs. Alldredge. “Each of the teams had an insightful and unique plan for colonizing Mars, and provided a compelling vision for a human settlement on the Red Planet.”

This year Mission to Mars was a success. Making the kids produce excellent projects due to critical thinking, working together and hard work. This translates over to the bigger picture that people are going to start traveling to Mars very soon, and former Laguna Blanca students may be involved in colonizing Mars.