Master Chef: Mars
Mission description
In this activity, participants work in groups. Each group designs a food item, aligned with Canada's Food Guide, to send on a Mars mission. The food item can be a snack or part of a breakfast, lunch or dinner. When put together, the various food items designed by the groups could represent a day or more of eating for astronauts on Mars.
Timeline
| Breakdown | Duration |
|---|---|
| Explanation of activity | 15 minutes |
| Walkthrough of participant handout | 15 minutes |
| Assignment of groups | 5 minutes |
| Phase 1: Initial Planning | 60 minutes |
| Phase 2: Food Design (if feasible, groups could make their item during this phase) | 60 minutes |
| Phase 3: Presentation Planning | 60 minutes |
| Presentations and wrap-up | 60 minutes |
| Total | Approximately 4.5 hours |
Goals
To use creativity and innovation in order to design a food item for a Mars mission that is aligned with Canada's Food Guide and that appeals to the senses of taste, texture, and smell.
Objectives
By the end of this activity, participants will:
- Be familiar with the contents of Canada's Food Guide
- Know what types of food are consumed during long-duration space missions
Mission preparation
Materials
Participants can use the following Junior Astronaut activities as resources:
- Trading Spaces: Living and Eating Off Earth
- Close Encounters of the Tasty Kind
- ISS Ingredients: Reading Food Labels
- Healthy Meals in Microgravity
- O Canada! Food on the International Space Station
Each group will create a presentation to identify:
- The name and type of food item
- How it contributes to a healthy eating pattern
- How it will be processed and packaged
If it is feasible, participants can make the actual food item.