Need Help Bringing Outer Space Into Your Classroom? Look no Further...
Do you want to teach your students about a space related topic through a projects and need financial support to make it happen? All you need is to have an idea for a space-based classroom project to apply for up to $300!
The application window is coming up! When it opens, all you have to do is fill out the short application below. We review applications four times a year: deadlines are Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer. Grant recipients will be notified two weeks after the close of the application cycle. Priority will be given to project requests for re-usable materials.
Have a specific question? Email us at grants@marsinitiative.org
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Students That We Have Helped Shoot for the Stars... One Space Project at a Time
STARGAZING & ROVER BUILDS
With a Mars Initiative MicroGrant, an educator at Spyrja Academy of New Braunfels helped 48 high schoolers take their curiosity to new heights. Using a Celestron StarSense telescope, students sketched constellations and connected their discoveries to real Martian research. LEGO Kinetic sets, also funded by the grant, let students build rover models and explore robotics.
“The MI grant had been one of our greatest achievements.” — J. Simmang, Educator
SPACE EXPLORATION BACKPACKS
Linda Frantz, a STEM educator at Northridge Elementary School, used a Mars Initiative MicroGrant to bring hands-on space exploration to her Title I K–5 students. Her “Space Exploration Backpacks” let families explore space-themed books and STEM activities together at home. When students returned to the classroom, Linda put the grant toward reusable STEM materials so students could keep building models and testing designs inspired by NASA missions.
“The project was successful… the books have been added to my classroom library for use in future lessons.” — L. Frantz, Educator
AUGMENTED REALITY MARS EXPLORATION
In 2020, Jessica Noffsinger used a Mars Initiative MicroGrant to bring AstroReality Mars Pro into her classroom—an augmented reality tool that turns lessons into a 3D field trip to the Red Planet. Students survey Mars’s surface and design their own robotic missions. To date, 250 8th-grade students have used the tool, and two student groups went on to win the Future Engineers NASA Tech Rise Challenge.
“The passion for space is real for my students.” — J. Noffsinger, Educator
MARS-THEMED STEM OUTREACH ACROSS CONTINENTS
With a Mars Initiative MicroGrant, Science Yourself No G’s About It—led by educator Dianea Phillips—brought Mars-themed STEM outreach to over 4,000 students and 400 adults across Canada and beyond. Workshops reached Indigenous schools, the Stardust Festival in Ontario, and even a girls’ school in Johannesburg, South Africa, inspiring learners of all ages to imagine themselves as the next generation of Mars explorers.
“The Mars Initiative has made the impossible, possible for us. You supported our dreams!”
HYDROPONIC MARS GARDEN
In 2021, a Mars Initiative MicroGrant funded a three-tier hydroponic growing system—a real-world model of how vegetables could be grown sustainably on Mars. Placed in a high-traffic hallway, it became a daily point of curiosity for all 800 students, about a third of whom ran hands-on experiments comparing plant growth and gardening methods.
“The system purchased in this grant has had a tremendous amount of impact on our school.” – Richard Taylor, Educator
MISSION: SPACE CADETS!
At Colinas del Norte Elementary School, teacher Brendajulissa Diaz launched a semester-long after-school program to ignite 3rd and 4th graders’ passion for space. Students explored the solar system, satellites, and orbits while tackling engineering challenges that prepared them for the school’s 5th-grade CubeSat project, culminating in a Space Science Expo where they launched model satellites.
Space Kits
Teachers in Space conducts workshops to instruct teachers how to use Ardusat Space Kits. A Mars Initiative MicroGrant is already funding some of those kits! Each teacher will then have the opportunity to take the kit back to the classroom to teach micro-computing and circuit design to their entire class!
SunSpotter Telescope
Hayesville High School procured a SunSpotter telescope with the help of a MicroGrant from Mars Initiative. This tool should bring observing fun to the students of Hayesville for years to come!
ANGLeS Challenge
With a Mars Initiative MicroGrant, Neighborhood House at Firwood Circle in Washington State procured materials to participate in the NASA ANGLeS competition. This celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission by giving students the chance to recreate the landing using drones and robots.