Curated OER
Planetary Trading Cards
Students research facts about each of the nine planets and record them on Planetary Trading Cards. Students use these cards to later construct a poster that is part of their mission day. Students use a variety of resources to research...
Curated OER
Creating Craters
Students explore parts of an impact crater and compare and contrast craters found in Earth, the Moon, and Mars. Crater formation is modelled and the relationship of mass, velocity, and size of the projectile to the crater formation is...
Curated OER
Paper Rockets
Students design, construct, and fly paper rockets that travel the greatest distance possible across a floor model of the solar system. They construct small flying rockets out of paper and propel them by blowing air through a straw.
Curated OER
MAPPING THE TOPOGRAPHY OF UNKNOWN SURFACES
Students describe in words and graphic displays the elevation or depression profile of sections of Mars' Olympus Mons and/or Valles Marineris. They explain how orbiting spacecraft build up global maps one data slice at a time.
Curated OER
Rocket Transportation
Learners use problem solving skills to lift a load using a balloon rocket. They construct a rocket out of a balloon and use it to carry a paper clip payload.
Curated OER
FOLLOW THAT WATER
Young scholars build simple stream tables and vary the angle of the stream tables in order to simulate different flow rates and compare the results. They observe various features formed in a stream table by flowing water and compare...
Teach Engineering
Come On Over Rover
Introduce your class to the steps that occur in the manufacturing of parts, the assembly, and the testing of a Mars rover. Pupils learn about fabrication techniques and tolerances in the manufacturing process.
Messenger Education
Give Me a Boost—How Gravity Assists Aid Space Exploration
The propellant needed for space explorations runs in the thousands, while paying to get the craft into orbit costs millions! In the second installment of three, two activities explore laws of conservation of energy and momentum. Using...
Curated OER
Mission Planning: Geography
Students investigate the use of latitude and longitude to locate specific locations on Earth and evaluate that location as a potential landing site for researchers, terrestrial or alien space missions.
Curated OER
Rover Races
Students simulate driving a rover on the surface of Mars. In this space science activity, students identify the challenges experienced by astronauts in operating a vehicle. They recommend some changes to make their 'rover' better.
Curated OER
Reading the Shapes of Volcanoes on Earth and Mars
Pupils compare and contrast the volcanoes of Earth and Mars, and examine specific volcanoes on Mars. They model the processes that create cone and shield volcanoes, and measure the slope angles of cone and shield volcanoes.
Curated OER
Today's Weather on Mars
Students investigate the temperature and wind data locally, nationally, and internationally and compare these conditions to those on Mars. Conclusions are drawn about the differences of these conditions and the causes for the variance...
Curated OER
Robots from Junk
Students create balloon and rubber band models of robotic rovers to investigate the concepts of mass, torque, and friction. Through research and planning, students construct a rover test-bed that simulates the Martian environment.
Curated OER
Plant an Ozone Monitoring Garden
Students create a garden. In this ozone lesson, students discuss ozone injury, identify plants sensitive to ozone, and then plant their own ozone garden.
Curated OER
Space the Next Frontier
Students examine the use of space as the frontier of the future. Using the colonist's experience coming to the New World, they identify challenges they would face if they were to settle in space. As a class, they share what they already...
Curated OER
Changing Faces: A Study of Solar and Planetary Rotation Rates
Middle schoolers determine rotation rates of a variety of solar system objects using images and the Internet.
Curated OER
Making Impact Craters
Students examine images of Moon craters and speculate about what caused them. They create craters using sand weighted balls. Students measure crater sizes and draw ejection patterns to see what effect size, weight, and velocity have on...
Curated OER
Mars rovers' Next Stop: IMAX
Pupils read an article and discuss it. For this Mars rover lesson students complete an activity that allows them to see things through a different viewpoint.
Curated OER
Moon, Mars, and Beyond-Mission Briefing
Learners complete this introductory lesson in which they find out about the scenario for a simulated online space mission. They review vocabulary and complete a review sheet to reinforce the details of the mission and its goals.
Curated OER
Polar Caps: Image Processing Tutorial
Students utilize computer image processing techniques to measure the size of Earth's polar ice caps and analyze various phenomena visible on planetary images.