Tuesday

Roving with Rosalind (RWR) is a suite of practical educational resources for school pupils aged 7-18 to engage with the ExoMars mission. The RwR model sends portable workshop kits with modular STEM resources, mapped to devolved UK curricula, to maximise applicability as a teaching tool. RwR aims to reach students in underserved communities by sending the practical workshop kits for free to educational groups and Schools, removing financial and geographical barriers to participation. Our aim is to help inspire and educate a diverse group of young people on the space industry and provide them with tools for the future, working towards equity and access to STEM, improving science capital, and developing science literacy for all students. We have developed and delivered resources with the intention to promote science as a valuable skill set for all careers for students, including those without intentions to further study STEM. The project includes all aspects of mission development and execution: Landing site selection, Rover Design, Instrumentation, Analogue missions, mission tactical planning, sample acquisition, data analysis, programming under the following themes:
-Understanding data, time, science, operational and power constraints during mission operations
-Process of rover design and evaluating engineering trade-off decisions
-Principles of planetary science and remote sensing
-Improve coding skills through programmable rovers and python learning tools
-Increasing exposure of pupils to mission specialists and insight into space careers

RwR also provides CPD training for teachers, STEM ambassadors and technicians to alleviate pressure and improve confidence in delivery of technical concepts like programming- a subject recently introduced into several of the UK curricula. So far the RwR programme has reached almost 5000 students across the UK. In this session we will highlight the successes of the project so far and inform NAM delegates interested in Mars outreach about how to get involved.