This is an activity about the atmospheric conditions (greenhouse strength, atmospheric thickness) Mars needs to maintain surface water. Learners will use a computer interactive to learn about Mars past and present before exploring the pressure and... (View More) greenhouse strength needed for Mars to have a watery surface as it had in the past. 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)

This is a 15-day unit of inquiry-based lessons about the surface features of the Moon and the Earth and how these two worlds formed and continue to evolve. Students participate in real science as they help lunar scientists map the surface of the... (View More) Moon with MoonMappers, an online citizen science project that lets the public analyze real data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The lessons in this unit follow the 5E instructional model. Includes an overview of citizen science, glossary of lunar feature vocabulary, and featured links. (View Less)

This is a lesson about using evidence to construct sequences of geologic events. Learners will interpret real NASA science data to identify features on the surface of Mars, determine the surface history of the area, calculate the size of features,... (View More) and develope investigable questions. Students will study images taken by NASA's Mars Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) camera orbiting Mars. Students will use the THEMIS images to analyze the surface features and geological history of Mars. The lesson models scientific inquiry using the 5E instructional model and includes teacher notes and vocabulary. (View Less)

This is a lesson about remote sensing. Learners will investigate how much you can learn about something just by looking at it. In Activity 1, students study aerial photographs to identify geologic features, determine how they differ from one... (View More) another, and examine the processes involved in their formation. In Activity 2, students investigate how remote observations of a planetary surface can be used to create geologic maps. By the end of the lesson, students will understand how data gathered by spacecraft can not only be used to investigate the properties of an object, but also how it was formed, how it has evolved over time, and how it is connected to other objects nearby. (View Less)

This episode of the Space Place Live animated talk show features an interview with Andre Dress, the Deputy Project Manager for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) program. During the course of the interview, viewers are... (View More) introduced to the GOES program and its role in studying the sun, solar flares, weather and our atmosphere. The term geostationary is also explained. Cartoon characters present their own brief talk show from the Space Place Clubhouse. The show presents space program scientists and engineers as role models for kids and encourages them to pursue their dreams. Guests present a short science or technology concept, and also talk about their job, their hobbies, and how they became interested in a career in science or engineering. (View Less)

This is a lesson about living on the Moon. Learners will use cooperative learning skills to design a self-sufficient lunar station.

This is a lesson about the evidence for life on other planets. Learners will play a game to examine processes in cellular metabolism and explore both direct and indirect evidence for fingerprints of life. Includes teacher notes, learning objectives,... (View More) and assessment of prior knowledge and preconceptions. This is Lesson 2 in Exploring Deep-Subsurface Life. Earth Analogues for Possible Life on Mars: Lessons and Activities. (View Less)

This is a lesson about the formation of glaciers, ice layering and stratigraphy, and the cryosphere and cryobotics. Learners will collect evidence of layering, explore the science story that layering tells, study snow and ice for insights into... (View More) climate change, and learn about the tools used to explore ice layers on Earth and in the solar system. Connections between rings of a tree and rings in an ice core will be made. Activities include small group miming, speaking, drawing, and/or writing. This is lesson 7 of 12 in the unit, Exploring Ice in the Solar System. (View Less)

This is a lesson about detecting ice on the permanently shadowed craters of Mercury and the Moon. Learners will consider what might be in that ice and will examine why the polar regions of Earth, Mercury and the Moon are colder than elsewhere on the... (View More) planets. Activities include small group miming, speaking, drawing, and/or writing. This is the lesson 12 of 12 in the unit, Exploring Ice in the Solar System. (View Less)

This is a set of lessons about the Moon. Learners will focus on answering the essential question: What are the challenges engineers and scientists are working to solve as NASA prepares to send humans to live and work on the Moon for extended periods... (View More) of time? In order to understand the challenges NASA faces in returning humans to the Moon, and how these challenges can be overcome, learner groups will brainstorm the challenges of going back to the Moon. They will read what the experts have to say about these challenges, discuss their value and relevancy, debate the importance of the challenges, debrief as a class, and identify the most difficult challenges for returning humans to the Moon to live and work for extended periods of time. They will use skills in reading, interpretation, communication, and processing to interpret information, make inferences, and draw conclusions. (View Less)