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The Red Planet The Red Planet LEARNING RESOURCE GUIDE Grades 3-8 A companion to The Martian 4D Experience MARS FACT SHEET Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called the ‘Red Planet’ because of its red soil. The soil on Mars is red because it contains iron oxide (rust). Mars is one of the brightest objects in the night sky. It has been known since ancient times. The planet is named for the Roman god of War. It has two moons, Phobos (fear) and Deimos (panic). The moons get their scary names from the horses that pulled the chariot of the Greek god Ares. SUN JUPITER SATURN EARTH URANUS NEPTUNE MERCURY VENUS MARS! WHAT’S IT LIKE ON MARS? 1. Mars is a little like Earth, only smaller, drier and colder. There are places 3. Mars is a rocky planet. It is dusty and dry. The sky would be hazy and red on Earth that are a little like Mars—Death Valley, California; Antarctica instead of blue. Sometimes giant dust storms cover the whole planet. and volcanoes in Hawaii. Both planets have polar ice caps, volcanoes, 4. Exploring Mars would be hard. But there are lots of things to see and canyons and four seasons. The seasons on Mars are twice as long. learn. Olympus Mons may be the largest volcano in our solar system. It is 2. The thin air on Mars makes it a dangerous place for humans. It is three times taller than Mt. Everest (the tallest mountain on Earth) and as mostly poisonous carbon dioxide. You would need a spacesuit to visit big as the state of New Mexico. Valles Marineris is a grand canyon almost Mars. Recently, scientists found lots of frozen water (scientists say as long as the United States of America is wide. There are also lots of water ice) just under the surface of Mars. This means astronauts who interesting meteor craters and rocks. may visit Mars in the future will have plenty of water—enough to fill 5. On Mars, you would see two moons in the sky. They may be asteroids Lake Michigan twice. captured by Mars’ gravity. Phobos is slowly moving towards Mars. It will crash into Mars or break apart in about 50 million years. 1 IMAGINARY MARTIANS – TEACHER SHEET 1/2 *Recommended to be grouped with Looking for Life and Mars Critters BACKGROUND FOR TEACHERS Activities to encourage students to think about the characteristics of There are many science fiction stories related to Mars. Each one has its own life and about the possibilities of looking for life on Mars. explanation of how a Martian might look. The descriptions are based on the author’s imagination and the known information about Mars from the time ABOUT THIS ACTIVITY period. In this interdisciplinary activity, students will interpret an author’s Students will listen to one or more excerpts from science fiction that will description of a Martian (language arts and art) and evaluate the possibility describe fictional living organisms from Mars. They will then draw their of such a creature living on Mars (science). interpretations and compare them to what they already know about life on Mars today. MATERIALS • Drawing paper OBJECTIVES • Crayons, colored pencils or markers Students will: • Student Sheet: If You Went to Mars • Draw their interpretation of a Martian after listening • Excerpts from science fiction novels to a science fiction reading. Examples: Mars by Ben Bova (chapter 7), Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis (chapter 7), • Analyze the realism of this Martian based on today’s The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (February 1999-YUa), knowledge of Mars environment. The Day The Martians Came by Frederick Pohl (chapter 17). • Discuss the popularity of Mars in literature. PROCEDURE Advanced Preparation 1. Check various novels and choose excerpt(s) to use. 2. Practice reading the excerpt(s). 3. Distribute student supplies. 4. Distribute the “If You Went to Mars” student sheet. 2 IMAGINARY MARTIANS – TEACHER SHEET 2/2 CLASSROOM PROCEDURE ALTERNATIVES 1. Explain to the students that people in the past have had very different 1. Instead of a standard sheet of paper, have the students work in groups ideas of what life is like on Mars and that you would like to share some using a large sheet of butcher paper. Then you can also discuss how of these interpretations with them. differently we each interpret what we hear. Display art. 2. Ask the class to close their eyes and listen to the reading(s). 2. Divide the class into teams and read several different excerpts, each 3. Read the excerpt(s) with animation and sound effects. team drawing an interpretation of a separate excerpt, then compare 4. Tell the students to open their eyes, take the drawing materials of their the team drawings. Display art. choice, and draw what they think the author(s) described. 5. Ask the students why they think the author wrote the descriptions in this way. Discuss answers in terms of the literature and the time when the story was written. 6. Ask the students why they think there is so much literature about the planet Mars. 7. Ask each student to explain why the alien drawn could or could not really be found on Mars. 8. Discuss what it would be like to live on Mars. Use the "If You Went to Mars" student sheet. 3 IMAGINARY MARTIANS – IF YOU WENT TO MARS Name Date Mars is more like Earth than any other planet in our solar system but is you brought the proper equipment, you could probably get some Martian still very different. You would have to wear a space suit to provide air and water from the air or the ground. to protect you from the Sun’s rays because the planet’s thin atmosphere The Martian surface is dusty and red, and huge dust storms occasionally does not block harmful solar radiation. sweep over the plains, darkening the entire planet for days. Instead of Your space suit would also protect you from the bitter cold; temperatures a blue sky, a dusty pink sky would hang over you. on Mars rarely climb above freezing, and they can plummet to -129° Celsius (-200° Fahrenheit). You would need to bring water with you; although if 4 LOOKING FOR LIFE – TEACHER SHEET 1/3 *Recommended to be grouped with Imaginary Martians and Mars Critters same way that Earth life does. The Viking tests did not detect the presence of Activities to encourage students to think about the characteristics of life life on Mars. The Viking tests would not have detected fossil evidence of past and about the possibilities of looking for life on Mars Mars life or a life form that is very different from Earth life. ABOUT THIS ACTIVITY PART A: AN OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF LIFE In Activity A students will use research to develop their criteria for life. ABOUT THIS PART The class will combine their ideas in a teacher-guided discussion. In Students will conduct research to identify characteristics of living and non- Activity B they will then use their definition of life to determine whether living organisms. They will record their observations on a chart that will help there is anything alive in three different soil samples. They will make the class to come to a consensus about how to identify living things. observations and draw pictures as they collect data from the samples and experiment. MATERIALS OBJECTIVES • Student Sheet: Fundamental Criteria for Life Chart • Dictionaries and encyclopedias Students will: • Examples of living and non-living things (should include • Form an operational definition of life. plants, animals, and microorganisms—pictures can be • Conduct a simulated experiment with soil samples similar substituted for the real thing) to the experiments on the Mars Viking Lander. • State relationships between the soil samples using their PROCEDURE operational definition of life. • Make an inference about the possibility of life on Mars Advanced Preparation based on data obtained. 1. Gather materials. 2. Review Background and Procedure. BACKGROUND FOR TEACHERS Classroom Procedure We usually recognize something as being alive or not alive. But when scientists 1. Explain to students that their job is to come up with a definition of how study very small samples or very old fossilized materials, the signs of life or living things can be detected. previous life are not easy to determine. Scientists must establish criteria to 2. Ask students to state (or write) what characteristics make an individual work within their research. The tests for life used by the Viking Mars missions item alive or not alive. Encourage them to find pictures and definitions were based on the idea that life would cause changes in the air or soil in the 5 LOOKING FOR LIFE – TEACHER SHEET 2/3 of living and non-living things. Allow the students use of dictionaries and PART B: IT’S ALIVE! encyclopedias. Use the examples below to encourage the students but ABOUT THIS PART not to limit them. Students will take three different soil samples and look for signs of life Example 1: Consider a bear and a chair—they both have legs, but one can move on its own and the other would need a motor made by humans; therefore, independent movement might be one based on the criteria from Part A. characteristic that indicates life. Not every living organism needs legs or roots. But they do need a mode of locomotion or a way to get nutrients. Also, the bear breathes and the chair does not, another MATERIALS indication of life. • Sand or sandy soil sample Example 2: Consider a tree and a light pole.
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