Students "observe" an imaginary new planet in our galaxy from the relative distances of a ground-based telescope, the Hubble Telescope, and a fly-by mission. After recording their observations and discussing the differences, they compare their... (View More) observations to actual images of Pluto taken from the New Horizons spacecraft during its July 2015 fly-by. (View Less)

Students analyze and interpret the accompanying large-format images of Mars taken by NASA’s Mars Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) camera. The analysis involves identifying geologic features, calibrating the size of those features, and... (View More) determining surface history. The lesson culminates in students conducting in-depth research on questions generated during their analyses. The lesson is part of the Mars Education Program series; it models scientific inquiry using the 5E instructional model and includes teacher notes and vocabulary. Next Generation Science Standards are listed. (View Less)

In this lesson, students will design a planetary surface rover to conduct a planetary surface investigation. It uses the 5E learning cycle and is designed around an essential question: How will creating a prototype of your rover help you prepare for... (View More) the Mars Rover Celebration? The lesson objectives are to: learn about scientific careers to gain a better understanding of a sampling of careers that have contributed to designing and developing Curiosity; draw a detailed, final-design sketch/diagram of the rover that will be built; identify missions, requirements and features of the rover using labels and captions when necessary. A number of appendices are provided, including standards alignment. This is Lesson 12 of the elementary school version of the 6-week Mars Rover Celebration curriculum. (View Less)

In this lesson, students will design a planetary surface rover to conduct a planetary surface investigation. It uses the 5E learning cycle and is designed around an essential question: How will creating a prototype of your rover help you prepare for... (View More) the Mars Rover Celebration? The lesson objectives are to: learn about scientific careers to gain a better understanding of a sampling of careers that have contributed to designing and developing Curiosity; draw a detailed, final-design sketch/diagram of the rover that will be built; identify missions, requirements and features of the rover using labels and captions when necessary. A number of appendices are provided, including standards alignment. This is Lesson 12 of the middle school version of the 6-week Mars Rover Celebration curriculum. (View Less)

This lesson plan uses the 5E learning cycle and is designed around an essential question: Why is the method you chose for landing your Rover on Mars the best one for your mission? The lesson objectives include: examine different methods for landing... (View More) rovers on Mars; determine which landing strategy is best suited to land the team's rover; research solutions to different problems that may occur once the rover lands on Mars; learn how to write in a persuasive manner; and present a well-written persuasive argument to teammates. The lesson plan has a number of appendices, including standards alignment. This is Lesson 10 of the middle school version of the 6-week Mars Rover Celebration curriculum. (View Less)

This lesson plan uses the 5E learning cycle and is designed around an essential question: How do I know when I’ve found important information in my reading? Learning objectives include: identify important details in informational texts; learn and... (View More) or review summarizing skills, work collaboratively to locate important information about Mars such as terrain, climate, and atmosphere; understand the rationale and importance of note-taking; develop effective note-taking strategies; and apply note-taking skills to record key information in students' science notebooks. The lesson plan has a number of appendices, including standards alignment. This is Lesson 4 of the elementary school version of the 6-week Mars Rover Celebration curriculum. (View Less)

This lesson plan uses the 5E learning cycle and is designed around an essential question: Why is the method you chose for landing your Rover on Mars the best one for your mission? The lesson objectives include: examine different methods for landing... (View More) rovers on Mars; determine which landing strategy is best suited to land the team's rover; research solutions to different problems that may occur once the rover lands on Mars; learn how to write in a persuasive manner; and present a well-written persuasive argument to teammates. The lesson plan has a number of appendices, including standards alignment. This is Lesson 10 of the elementary school version of the 6-week Mars Rover Celebration curriculum. (View Less)

This lesson plan uses the 5E learning cycle and is designed around an essential question: How do I know when I've found important information in my reading? Learning objectives include: identify important details in informational texts; learn and or... (View More) review summarizing skills, work collaboratively to locate important information about Mars such as terrain, climate, and atmosphere; understand the rationale and importance of note-taking; develop effective note-taking strategies; and apply note-taking skills to record key information in students’ science notebooks. The lesson plan has a number of appendices, including standards alignment. This is Lesson 4 of the middle school version of the 6-week Mars Rover Celebration curriculum. (View Less)

Each lesson or activity in this toolkit is related to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). The toolkit is designed so that each lesson can be done independently, or combined and taught in a sequence. The Teacher Implementation Guide provides... (View More) recommendations for combining the lessons into three main strands: 1) Lunar Exploration - These lessons provide a basic introduction to Moon exploration. Note that this strand is also appropriate for use in social studies classes. 2) Mapping the Moon - These lessons provide a more in-depth understanding of Moon exploration through the use of scientific data and student inquiry. The lessons also include many connections to Earth science and geology. 3) Tools of Investigation - These higher-level lessons examine the role of technology, engineering and physics in collecting and analyzing data. (View Less)

This is an activity about the way distance, albedo, and atmosphere affect the temperature of a planet. Learners will create a planet using a computer game and change features of the planet to increase or decrease the planet's temperature. They will... (View More) then discuss their results in terms of greenhouse strength and the presence of liquid water. This lesson is part of Project Spectra, a science and engineering education program focusing on how light is used to explore the Solar System. (View Less)