Local Government Reviews Design Plans for Mars Community
Baton Rouge, LA

The sixth-grade "Science on the Internet" class at Louisiana State University Laboratory School planned every aspect of building a model Mars community. Every nine weeks a new group of children entered the class, each group continuing the project from where the earlier group left off. Students conducted interviews and discussed the challenges they might face when building a new community.

• The first group began by researching the Mars environment and making recommendations to the next group.
• The second group explored the true meaning of community. Students conducted interviews and discussed the challenges they might face when building a new community, and sounded out classmates on potential solutions.
• The third group presented its model Mars community plans to the Baton Rouge Planning and Zoning Commission, and made improvements based on the commissioners' suggestions.
• The last group put the finishing touches on the Mars community, naming it "Centiciptious," and presented the final model to the Baton Rouge City Council.