“Space Mission: Ice Moon” by Daanen and Grant

The new 21st Century Science curriculum in the UK seeks to develop all students’ broad understanding of the main scientific explanations that can act as a framework for making sense of the world around us. The curricular emphases in science are transforming from content-heavy knowledge acquisition and fact recall to process-based inquiry putting more emphasis on making meaning.

Space Mission: Ice Moon is a real-time simulation of a space disaster in which students find themselves in the roles of scientific experts in an Emergency Response Team. Between eighteen and thirty students work in six or seven teams to rescue four astronauts lost in the ice tunnels of Jupiter’s moon, Europa. Using video-conferencing facilities, they communicate with the mission commander who is in the space station, and work with real-time data feeds to devise and implement a rescue plan in a constantly changing situation.

The Space Mission: Ice Moon is about putting the power of creating meaning from evidence, and experiencing the process of creating science, in the hands of students in the form of a realistic role play where they are the scientists that have to collect and interpret data in real time and advise the mission commander.