Areology-The Study of Mars

Ice cores provide scientists with knowledge of historic melt layers, air temperatures, greenhouse gases, and climate stability. Scholars work in groups to build layers representing snow and ice over thousands of years. Then, groups...

How does examining an ice core tell us about weather? Learners set up and explore fake ice cores made of sugar, salt, and ash to represent historical snowfall and volcanic eruptions. From their setups, scholars determine what caused the...

Young scholars define the origin of rock samples and how surface core samples can tell us about the history and make-up of Mars. Candies are used as a Martian surface sample. Students study the samples and make a hypothesis about the...

Take the old baking soda and vinegar volcano to the next level by using it to study repeated lava flows over time, examine geologic features on Earth and Mars, and speculate about some of the formations on Mars. 

Determining whether or not something is living can be more difficult than it seems. Put your young scientists to work defining their own criteria to identify life, then work with three samples to see if they are alive or...

Students use Oreo candy bars to explore how surface core samples call tell people about the history and make-up of Mars.

Students, through the use of candy bars at room temperature, explore the problems selecting a landing site on Mars.

Students take on the role of climate detectives in this climate investigation. Teams make a model of sediment cores using glass beads and sand, study the core samples, and tell something about the hypothetical paleoclimate that existed...

Looking for an out-of-this-world volcanic activity? Geologists study Earth's volcanic history and the neighboring planet Mars by modeling volcanic eruptions, lava flows, and building a shield volcano. Participants use graph paper and...

Introduce your young meteorologists to black carbon produced by the burning of fossil fuels by showing the video, "Changing Planet: Black Carbon." Viewers discover that deposition of this carbon on polar ice impacts the absorption of...