Design That! Challenge
To commemorate the life of Grand Rapids' own Roger B. Chaffee, Grand Valley State University and Grand Rapids Public Museum co-host the annual Roger That! symposium on a weekend every February where we plan both in-person and virtual activities.
Every year we invite interested 4th – 8th grade students in the greater Grand Rapids area to participate in Design That! - a design challenge that focuses all aspects related to space exploration.
Student teams can create physical models, write stories, design websites, produce short (3-5 min) videos, or make posters describing their projects.
All projects are displayed at GVSU on Friday evening, and the top 10 are exhibited at GRPM all day on Saturday. Prizes are given to two teams - a popular choice award and a juried award.
Online Design That! Submission Form
Participation Guidelines
- Explain concepts related to space or space exploration.
- Write a story or perform a play about space travel or life in space.
- Design clothing, buildings, or devices for space travel or life in space
- Build physical devices (robots or models) to be used in space exploration.
- Create a webpage or computer model relevant to space or space exploration.
- Discuss historical events in space exploration, such as moon landings and other missions.
- Select a topic, form a team (recommended size 2-4 students), and do the research on your topic.
- Student teams can create physical models, write stories, design websites, produce short (3-5 min) videos, or make posters describing their projects. Email us with questions at [email protected].
- Upload your Design That! submission online by the deadline which will be posted here:
- This includes Project Documentation where you reflect on the following:
- Your reason(s) for choosing the problem, your research, and your solution.
- Something(s) you learned that surprised you.
- The most challenging part of your project.
- Project documentation may be provided directly using the text boxes on the submission site, or in a separate file you upload to the submission site.
- This includes Project Documentation where you reflect on the following:
- All projects will be displayed at GVSU's Loosemore Auditorium on Friday and the top 10 will also be displayed at GRPM on Saturday. Information about project drop off will be sent to all participants.
Awards will be based on:
- Project documentation (copy or picture of your poster, your story, video of your play, pictures of any physical models or robots, etc.)
- Project reflection (content, scientific accuracy, grammar, appropriate referencing)
- Innovation (creativity and originality)
Prizes include:
- Certificates for each team member
- Pizza party for your class
- Museum ticket package
For Design That!, students are encouraged to design and build physical or virtual objects or use non-fictional and fictional narrative styles to present challenges related to space exploration. This is an exciting competition that gives individuals or teams of 2-6 students a chance to win prizes and the opportunity to present their work as part of a space-focused conference at Grand Valley State University.