Student Mini-Satellites in the Development of Skills Through Problem Solving

Outline

This poster session will operate in rotating 15-minute engagement cycles, allowing participants to join at any time and experience each phase of the investigative process with student presenters.

The goal is to immerse attendees in the authentic research model used by students who developed and tested low-cost mini-satellites and intelligent urban mobility concepts to study human impacts on the environment and propose sustainable solutions for cities of the future. Beyond environmental monitoring of urban heat islands, air quality, and ecosystem imbalance, participants will explore how autonomous drones and intelligent robotic delivery systems can contribute to reducing traffic congestion, lowering fuel consumption, minimizing pollutant emissions, accelerating logistics operations, and improving environmental quality and quality of life in urban spaces.

Cycle Structure and Engagement:

1. Context and Problem (3–4 minutes)
Participants are introduced to the environmental and urban challenges investigated by the student teams. Short visuals and infographics explain how population growth, transportation demands, and human activities intensify traffic, increase energy consumption, alter biogeochemical cycles, and threaten biodiversity and food security. Presenters introduce guiding questions that connect sustainability, mobility, and technological innovation to local realities.
Questions explored include: How can cities transport goods more efficiently? How can intelligent logistics reduce traffic and air pollution? Could autonomous systems improve people’s quality of life while decreasing environmental impacts?
Engagement: quick dialogue and reflection prompts.

2. Design and Prototype (4–5 minutes)
Students demonstrate the mini-satellite prototypes (ESP32-based) alongside conceptual smart logistics models using autonomous drones and robotic transport systems. Attendees explore how sensors and connected technologies collect environmental and operational data to evaluate alternative urban transportation strategies. Simplified mission plans and logistics simulations illustrate how scientific inquiry, engineering, and coding can be integrated to solve real-world challenges related to mobility and sustainability.
Engagement: tactile interaction with hardware, QR codes to open live data dashboards, route simulations, and short coding demonstrations.

3. Data, Results, and Application (4–5 minutes)
Participants analyze datasets, maps, and simulated logistics scenarios, interpreting how variables such as temperature, humidity, air quality, travel time, route optimization, and energy consumption reveal patterns connected to environmental quality and urban efficiency. Student teams demonstrate how intelligent delivery systems supported by drones and robotic platforms can reduce dependence on conventional vehicle fleets, decrease fuel use, shorten delivery times, and potentially improve urban flow. Educators discuss how this approach can be replicated using accessible materials to promote equity, innovation, and collaboration.
Engagement: small peer discussions, guided interpretation cards, and reflection prompts on classroom adaptation.

4. Reflection and Takeaways (2–3 minutes)
The cycle concludes with reflection on how student-led inquiry, environmental monitoring, and technological creativity can transform environmental awareness into practical and scalable solutions. Participants are encouraged to consider how emerging technologies such as autonomous logistics, robotics, and sensor networks may contribute to healthier, more efficient, and more sustainable cities. Attendees receive access to open-source guides, lesson templates, and rubrics to replicate the experience in their schools.
Engagement: interactive Q&A, photo documentation, and sharing of teaching resources.

Each 15-minute cycle repeats throughout the session, ensuring all attendees experience the complete learning journey, from identifying a real-world challenge to proposing and communicating evidence-based solutions. The poster design and live demonstrations embody ISTE values of innovation, collaboration, and equity while illustrating how authentic inquiry empowers students to become active designers of sustainable and intelligent urban futures.

Outcomes

After this session, participants will be able to design authentic, inquiry-based STEM projects that integrate low-cost mini-satellites and intelligent urban logistics solutions to explore environmental issues directly linked to human impact. In addition to investigating topics such as urban heat islands, air quality, and ecosystem changes, educators will examine how emerging technologies, including autonomous drones and intelligent robotic delivery systems, can contribute to reducing traffic congestion, lowering fuel consumption, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, and improving the efficiency of transporting goods across cities. Through this approach, accessible space, sensor, and automation technologies transform abstract sustainability concepts into concrete, data-driven investigations connected to real urban challenges.

Participants will learn how to guide students through the full investigative process, including the formulation of questions, development of hypotheses, construction of prototypes, and collection and interpretation of environmental and operational data. Students will be encouraged to design and test smart logistics models in which drones and autonomous robots transport small goods through urban environments, analyzing variables such as delivery time, route optimization, energy consumption, environmental impact, and quality of life indicators. This hands-on experience fosters critical thinking, creativity, engineering design, and collaboration while empowering learners to become problem-solvers capable of proposing sustainable solutions for future cities.

The session models a pedagogy grounded in the ISTE values of innovation, collaboration, and equity. Attendees will take away replicable strategies, open-source materials, and digital resources to implement similar inquiry-based projects in their own educational environments. Today, more than 200 students have already had the opportunity to develop projects involving mini-satellites, environmental monitoring, and emerging technologies, promoting learning in technology and sustainability across partner schools. Already replicated in several educational contexts, this initiative demonstrates measurable educational impact, accessibility, and scalability while inspiring young people to become active agents in building smarter, more efficient, and environmentally responsible cities for the future.

Supporting research

Imperatriz-Fonseca, V. L., & Freitas, B. M. (2016). Pollinators in Brazil: Contribution and prospects for biodiversity, food production, and climate resilience. Ministry of the Environment, Brazil.
https://www.mma.gov.br/polinizadores

Amorim, M. C. C. T., & Dubreuil, V. (2019). Urban heat islands and land use in Brazilian cities. Revista Brasileira de Climatologia.
https://revistas.ufpr.br/revista_climatologia

Gatti, L. V., et al. (2021). Amazonia as a carbon source linked to deforestation and climate change. Nature, 595(7867), 388–393.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03629-6

INPE (National Institute for Space Research). (2023). Flying Rivers Project – Monitoring Amazonian atmospheric moisture transport.
http://www.inpe.br/riosvoadores

UNESCO (2023). Education for Sustainable Development: Building a learning society for climate action.
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000380489

ISTE (2021). ISTE Standards for Students and Educators. International Society for Technology in Education.
https://www.iste.org/standards

Cutter-Mackenzie, A., et al. (2020). Research Handbook on Childhoodnature: Assemblages of childhood and nature research. Springer.
(Supports environmental inquiry and experiential learning approaches.)

Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas. Basic Books.
(Foundational theory on constructionism and learning through making.)

Barron, B., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2008). Teaching for meaningful learning: A review of research on inquiry-based and cooperative learning. Edutopia/George Lucas Educational Foundation.
https://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/edutopia-teaching-for-meaningful-learning.pdf

NASA Education (2024). Cubesat and CanSat programs for student engagement in space and Earth science.
https://www.nasa.gov/education