This unit investigates asteroids, comets, and meteoroids, focusing on Vesta, a prominent asteroid in the asteroid belt. The unit of eleven lessons culminates in having students use engineering practices to design, build, and test devices that will... (View More) land on Vesta, collect and separate natural resources found there, and deliver a payload to a target. Teachers and students are also introduced to the Asteroid Mappers-Vesta Edition citizen science project that is part of the CosmoQuest online community. Lessons include background information for educators, reviews and assessments, and links to supplemental videos and websites. Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core Standards are listed. (View Less)

Learners will build an open spectrograph to calculate the angle the light is transmitted through a holographic diffraction grating. After finding the desired angles, the students will design their own spectrograph using the information learned. The... (View More) activity is part of Project Spectra, a science and engineering program for middle-high school students, focusing on how light is used to explore the Solar System. (View Less)