Task 2 - Mars World

NASA, as well as companies like Google and Virgin, are planning missions to send humans to Mars in the next 10 - 20 years.

That means todays students are likely to be the first people to visit Mars and ultimately begin setting up a permanent colony on the red planet.

This activity will simulate what it would be like to be one of those astronauts.

There are a number of parts to this assessment and they are explained in more detail lower down this page. In brief you will:

1) Undertake Research

2) Open Mars World in Minecraft

3) Undertake pre flight training

4) Decide what resources you need

5) Land on Mars

6) Build a sustainable colony

7) Document the whole process in a day by day Space Journal

It is important to remember the following things

You MUST NOT, at any stage, change any of the Game settings. This will be regarded as cheating and will be reflected in the grade you receive.

To get photographs for your journal you can use the Camera and Folio tools as well as an external screen capture software such as Greenshot.

Your teacher will provide you with a copy of Mars World.

The world will be saved on the computer you are using, if you want to use it on a second computer (Laptop?) you will have to EXPORT it from the first computer and then IMPORT it into the second one

Note: To make sure you submit your work correctly make sure you read the instructions on the Journal as well as the advice at the end of this web page!

Space Journal Template

Research

This will be done in two ways. Firstly you need to complete the pre flight training in Mars world. The second source of information is the internet.

Mars World

Copy the Mars World file onto the desktop of your computer and then load it.

Do not change the Game settings! Leave them as follows - Creative & Normal and Cheats OFF

Pre Flight Training

Head into the building to start your training. Remember to make notes in your Space Journal. Use a different colour to the questions!

Decide what to take with you

Before you take off you need to go to the Cargo Area (Yellow Level) where you will need to decide what 27 things you can take with you. How will you find the items in the Cargo Area and how will you put them in the Yellow Chest?

Land on Mars

So now you have landed on Mars, what are you going to do?

Don't forget to fill in your Journal each day.

Add notes about what are you expecting / planning and give reasons for your choices?

What problems did you come across, did you you solve them? How?

Include plenty of images and try to make them full page width so they are easy to see. Keep the images with the related text rather than putting them all at the end of the document.

Useful Resources

Survival

Growing Crops

Mining

General Help