AstroEngineer: Moon Rover



Client: Project Lead the Way
Funder: National Science Foundation, Indiana’s 21st Century Research and Technology Fund 

AstroEngineer: Moon Rover™ is a serious learning game developed in conjunction with Project Lead the Way, Inc to teach middle school students about the engineering design process and the characteristics and hazards of the lunar environment.The game is set in 2040, and mankind has established several bases on or orbiting the lunar surface that work together to gather resources, explore, and develop a base of operations for future missions to other planetary bodies in our solar system. AstroEngineer: Moon Rover™ provides an environment where middle school students learn how to apply the engineering design process to develop and test solutions to problems when limited by certain criteria and constraints.

AstroEngineer: Moon Rover™ is aligned with NSES, NCTM, and ITEEA standards for science, mathematics, and engineering, and includes a suite of support materials for both formal and informal educators.AstroEngineer: Moon Rover™ is a result of a partnership that includes PLTW, NASA scientists, learning scientists, teachers, secondary students, and serious and entertainment game developers. WisdomTool’s goal is to design engaging serious games that intelligently deliver STEM content and provide students with an authentic environment to demonstrate knowledge and problem-solving skills. Serious games are an excellent vehicle for teaching content to students in secondary grades, especially among students who are discouraged or disinterested by traditional classroom teaching.

AstroEngineer: Moon Rover™ is available for MAC and PC.

AstroEngineer: Moon Rover™ was designed to be played over five traditional 50-minute class periods or in 2-3 block schedule periods. Field testing with 341 middle school students in an economically, racially, and ethnically diverse public school district showed statistically significant learning gains in both the engineering design process and science content across both genders.

Game purchase includes a full suite of educator support materials to ease classroom integration, including:

  • Teacher Guide with content support, learning objectives, maps, and glossary
  • Student Guide with background on moon locations and terms
  • Informal Educators guide with strategies for using AstroEngineer: Moon Rover™ with clubs, museum groups, after-school programs, and home educators
  • Supplementary activities to expand and enhance the content of the game

AstroEngineer: Moon Rover™ was developed by WisdomTools, Inc, in partnership with Project Lead the Way and is funded, in part, by National Science Foundation (Grant No. IIP-0945681) and Indiana’s 21st Century Research and Technology Fund.