A team of fourth graders launched into third period with a singular mission: Ride a rocket to Mars to gather intel on the red planet and return home before lunch. The required equipment was a tablet, an augmented reality app (TimePod Adventures) and a lesson plan (Earth vs. Mars) from Discovery Education, available to teachers for free on Verizon Innovative Learning HQ. A few months before this morning’s space trek, Lisa Gray, the STEAM Specialist for Acmetonia Elementary School in Cheswick, Pennsylvania, was searching for classroom ideas when she learned about Verizon Innovative Learning HQ. Verizon Innovative Learning HQ offers more than 450 tech-based, turn-key lessons from trusted educational partners in core curriculum and STEM subjects. The education portal is open to all educators at no cost, and with no other participation in Verizon programs required. Tablets in hand, Gray’s students bounced around the classroom like atoms, trying to land their pods on the volcanic dust that covers Mars’ surface. “I’m on Mars!” shouted one student. The students’ mission required them to use their five senses to gather data and compare life in their new surroundings with the world they’d left behind. Given the choice between living on Earth or Mars, which would these space explorers choose? “I appreciate Earth’s nature and seasons,” said Acmetonia fourth grader Aiden Grainer. “It's a great planet. But, honestly, Mars is way cooler.” Verizon Innovative Learning is a key part of the company’s responsible business plan to help move the world forward for all. As part of the plan, Verizon has an ambitious goal of providing 10 million youth with digital skills training by 2030. Educators can access free lessons, professional development, and immersive learning experiences to help bring new ways of learning into the classroom by visiting Verizon Innovative Learning HQ.

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