During the Passage to Planet ROG module, children travel to distant Planet ROG and develop a number of different devices to help them solve problems in space and on the planet. Welcomed as the newest members of the mission, children must create special tools to fix their spaceship! After landing on Planet ROG, children discover that the planet’s atmosphere is similar to Earth’s. They build an outpost on the planet and create communication, observation and data-collecting devices. Next, children meet the inhabitants of Planet ROG! They use inquiry methods of classification to identify and name inhabitants. Then they create sculptures of the planet’s creatures! Children discover that Planet ROG is rich in minerals. After a game of washer mining, they identify and sort mineral deposits. They complete their mission by creating a way to transport themselves and the minerals back to their spacecraft and home to Earth.

In the Trash Island: A Garbage Patch Journey module, children hear of the extreme build-up of trash in the North Pacific Central Ocean Gyre between California and Hawaii. Their mission is to discover if it truly is an island, what it is made of, and what can be done to keep it from growing. As a crew, they will be faced with ocean research challenges that will require creative thinking, problem solving skills and teamwork.

Participants discover they have won a research trip to Trash Island. They receive their research mission, design waterproof boat logs, make a model of a gyre, and play a food web game. Then, the children arrive at Trash Island and discover that it is not an actual island! Crews design and test trawls, investigate what has been collected, and balance the pH of ocean water. Next, participants find themselves playing a game based upon everyday actions and decisions that have an impact on the environment, as well as making and testing fishing poles out of recycled goods. The children then create their own egg-marines that must not sink or float, design a “robotic arm” for a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), and work together to “detangle” a turtle. Finally, the children design Trash Island fantasy clean-up machine prototypes and head back to shore to share their research findings at a press conference.