Student Project .

Build a Rover and More With Shapes

Subject

Math

Time Required

Under 30 mins

A person puts a shape onto the tangram rover outline

Materials

Plain paper OR a copy of the tangram rover with interior lines drawn – Download PDF
Plain paper OR a copy of the tangram rover without interior lines drawn – Download PDF
Crayons, colored pencils OR markers
Scissors

Project Steps

Step 1: Look at the shape of rovers
NASA uses rovers to drive around on other planets and explore. Rovers usually have a main body and wheels.
About the image: Click on this interactive image of the Perseverance Mars rover to take a closer look at its body, wheels, and more! Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | › Learn more
Step 2: Print or draw your rover and shapes
Step 2: Print or draw your rover and shapes
Print out both rover templates – the one with interior lines and the one without them. You can also draw or trace (by holding the paper up to a computer screen) the rover templates and shapes on plain pieces of paper. If you already cut out the shapes for Build a Rocket and More With Shapes, you can use the same shapes for your rover.
Step 3: Color the shapes
Step 3: Color the shapes
Color the shapes at the bottom of one of the rover templates using different colors for the different shapes. If two shapes appear to be exactly the same, use the same color on those.
Step 4: Cut out the shapes
Step 4: Cut out the shapes
Have an adult help you cut out the colored shapes.
Step 5: Build your rover
Step 5: Build your rover
Use the shapes to build your rover design! Start by filling in the rover that has interior lines. All the shapes must fit entirely inside the rover’s outline. Once your rover is complete, show your family members.
Step 6: Challenge yourself
Step 6: Challenge yourself
For a bigger challenge, see if you can use the shapes to fill in the rover without interior lines, or build your own rover without using a rover outline at all!
Step 7: Get creative
Step 7: Get creative
Can you build more designs using these shapes? Look at these pictures of spacecraft, rockets, and landers, and try to recreate them with shapes. What else can you build?
About the image: This artist's concept shows the InSight lander on Mars. InSight arrived on the Red Planet in November 2018, when it began its mission to study the deep interior of Mars. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | › Full image and caption