{"id":30459,"date":"2025-12-19T11:53:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T17:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/?p=30459"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:53:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T17:53:19","slug":"red-planet-at-forest-meadow-chargers-design-future-mars-colonies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/red-planet-at-forest-meadow-chargers-design-future-mars-colonies\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Planet at Forest Meadow: Chargers Design Future Mars Colonies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Forest Meadow Middle School library was transformed into a vision of the future this month as our science students unveiled their highly anticipated Mars Colony Projects<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tasked with solving the complex challenges of interplanetary life, our 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade Chargers didn’t just build models\u2014they engineered solutions for survival on the Red Planet. From oxygen filtration systems to underground habitats protected from solar radiation, the level of detail and scientific thought was truly out of this world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hands-On Science in Action<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This project was a masterclass in Active Learning<\/strong>. Instead of just reading about atmospheric pressure or gravity, students had to apply those concepts to keep their hypothetical colonists alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visitors to the library were treated to “Expert Tours” led by the students themselves. Our Chargers stood ready to defend their designs, answering tough questions about:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Resource Management:<\/strong> How to recycle water and grow food in Martian soil.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Energy Solutions:<\/strong> Utilizing solar arrays and nuclear power in a dust-storm-prone environment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Human Psychology:<\/strong> Creating social spaces to keep astronauts happy during long-term missions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Why Being There Made the Difference<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Events like the Mars Colony exhibition highlight exactly why attendance is so vital<\/strong>. This wasn’t a lesson you could “catch up on” by reading a chapter at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • Collaborative Spirit:<\/strong> Students worked in teams, learning the essential “soft skills” of negotiation and teamwork that are required for any NASA mission (and any future career!).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Communication Skills:<\/strong> By presenting to peers, teachers, and parents, Chargers practiced public speaking and the ability to explain complex scientific ideas clearly.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Peer Inspiration:<\/strong> When students see the incredible work their classmates are doing, it sparks a healthy sense of competition and curiosity that drives the whole school forward.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      To Infinity and Beyond!<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      A huge “Great Job” to all the Chargers who put in the research and lab hours to make this project a success. Seeing the library buzzing with scientific debate and creative energy was a highlight of the semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      It\u2019s days like these that remind us why we show up: to build, to create, and to explore the possibilities of the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Go Chargers!<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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      \n\t\t\t\t\tStudents presenting Mars Colony\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      The Forest Meadow Middle School library was transformed into a vision of the future this month as our science students unveiled their highly anticipated Mars Colony Projects. Tasked with solving the complex challenges of interplanetary life, our 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade Chargers didn’t just build models\u2014they engineered solutions for survival on the Red Planet. From […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":315,"featured_media":30555,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2025\/12\/Mars-Colony-2025-sm-8842-scaled.jpg",2560,1920,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2025\/12\/Mars-Colony-2025-sm-8842-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2025\/12\/Mars-Colony-2025-sm-8842-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2025\/12\/Mars-Colony-2025-sm-8842-768x576.jpg",768,576,true],"large":["https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2025\/12\/Mars-Colony-2025-sm-8842-1024x768.jpg",1024,768,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2025\/12\/Mars-Colony-2025-sm-8842-1536x1152.jpg",1536,1152,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/72\/2025\/12\/Mars-Colony-2025-sm-8842-2048x1536.jpg",2048,1536,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kristymarshall","author_link":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/author\/kristymarshall\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The Forest Meadow Middle School library was transformed into a vision of the future this month as our science students unveiled their highly anticipated Mars Colony Projects. Tasked with solving the complex challenges of interplanetary life, our 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade Chargers didn’t just build models\u2014they engineered solutions for survival on the Red Planet. From…","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2025-12-29 01:11:42","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/315"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30459"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30561,"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30459\/revisions\/30561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/forestmeadowms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}