Code in the Stars

The Lunar Gateway Challenge has STARTED!

Your Mission:

Join us and celebrate Canada’s contribution to The Lunar Gateway!

We’ve partnered up with the Canadian Space Agency, Steamlabs and Western University to offer a 5-day residency for your classroom designed for youth aged 10 - 15 and focused on coding, artificial intelligence, and robotics.

Share your students’ ideas for an AI lunar robot to help the astronauts on the Moon and The Lunar Gateway in order to qualify for the residency.

The Residency Program

Engage your class in 5 days of FREE* workshops led by STEAM experts.

The residency will focus on coding, artificial intelligence, and robotics and will be held in the Spring of 2023 virtually or in-person depending on location.

Get your submission in before January 31st, 2023 in order to qualify for one of a limited number of residencies.

*Thanks to funding by the Canadian Space Agency, CanCode, Amazon Future Engineer, and Strawbees

FREE 5-day (2hr workshops) outline:

Day 1: Introduction - hands-on activities with Makecode and Strawbees
Day 2: Using microcontrollers to react to changes in the environment - hands-on activities with micro:bits, Strawbees and servo motors
Day 3: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence - hands-on activities using MakeCode, micro:bits and servo motors
Day 4: Artificial Intelligence & robotics - hands-on activities with Makecode, micro:bits, Steamlabs Bridge, Strawbees and servo motors
Day 5: Challenge - use what we've learned to tackle different challenges

Each residency will receive a FREE* classroom kit that includes:

micro:bits
Strawbees
servo motors

*Thanks to funding and donation by Canadian Space Agency, CanCode, Amazon Future Engineer, and Strawbees

Requirements to qualify for residency:

The teacher or educator must submit at least 1 idea, however the more the better, to The Lunar Gateway Challenge. Refer to our handy Lunar Gateway Challenge Guide on how to easily run this activity in your classroom.
The students must be between the ages of 10 - 15 years.
The school is located in Canada.
The school must have a reliable internet connection and access to laptops.

Countdown to submission deadline

This residency is in collaboration with the CSA, SteamLabs, and Western University.

Submissions

Submit your students’ ideas for a AI lunar robot!

*All are encouraged to participate but only Canadian Schools will be considered for the 5-day residency

**Submission required to qualify for the 5-day residency

The Lunar Gateway Challenge is an opportunity for youth (ages 10 - 15) to help and inspire the international community by solving deep space exploration problems with coding, robotics and AI.

It revolves around The Lunar Gateway mission, which Canada is embarking on alongside its partners (NASA, ESA and JAXA) to build a space station orbiting the Moon.

Your mission is to have your students design a smart lunar robot to help the astronauts with their exploration of the Moon. Submit these ideas below to qualify for a 5-day residency for your classroom led by STEAM experts.

Example submissions

The Lunar Gateway Challenge - Activity Sheet

Teachers will need to submit on behalf of their students and can submit as many times as they like as long as it’s a new idea from a different student, group or class each time. We encourage all to participate!

Instructions:

Get your submission in before January 31st, 2023 in order to qualify for the residency.

Refer to our Lunar Gateway Challenge Guide to help you get started and guide you through the activity.
Have your student draw out their solution either on paper or you could use an online drawing tool like https://www.autodraw.com and attach a photo or the image file to the form.
The Lunar Gateway Challenge - Activity Sheet

Enter your educator, facilitator or personal adult/parent contact email.

Fill in your student's first name and the name of they gave their AI robot.

Fill in the student's description of the AI robot.

Accept the terms and conditions and submit.
Don't forget to share your inventions with our community on twitter, @kidscoding #GatewayChallenge.

Submission Form

Need some ideas? Check out the full gallery for further inspiration from the space-loving community!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the KCJ team.

Free Teacher Resources

Need a little guidance and inspiration? Below are some free resources and coding activities to help you and your students get started.

This guide will help you create your AI robot by teaching you key concepts about Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and the Lunar Gateway itself.

The Lunar Gateway Challenge Guide

Get coding in the classroom with these fun Scratch projects

Explore the Solar System

Space Trivia

Space Burps

Under the Stars

Save the Planet

Check out how Canada contributes to the Lunar Gateway, a brand new space station orbiting the Moon!

Video credits: Canadian Space Agency, NASA

Show off your students’ stellar coding skills!

Make sure to share pictures, videos, quotes, and screen captures on social media. Tag us at @kidscoding and use the hashtags #codeinthestars and #GatewayChallenge

Meet Our Partners

We are united in our passion for innovation in the pursuit of sparking the curiosity of space and beyond.

This project is undertaken with the financial support of the Canadian Space Agency.

We also celebrate Astro Pi!

Astro Pi is a European Space Agency Education project with the Raspberry Pi Foundation. Every year it runs Mission Zero: a non-competitive challenge where students aged 14 and under can send a coded message to run on the Raspberry Pis that are currently on the International Space Station (ISS)!