One Room, Three Weeks, Twelve Gifted Teens: Mars or Bust

April K. Andreas, Engineering and Mathematics, McLennan Community College

In July 2009 in Dallas, Texas, Southern Methodist University hosted a class for gifted teens called, “Mars or Bust: Creating a Permanent Martian Settlement.” For two weeks, the students were exposed to everything Mars: from the history of exploration, Martian geology, and space propulsion to the logistics, legalities, and other complications regarding the creation of a permanent settlement, including a videoconference with Martians-in-training in the arctic circle. The third week, the students completed colonization-related projects and presented their results. This article describes this exciting project and provides guidance for others seeking to do similar work with gifted students.

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