created with the support of st century fox 21 Curriculum Guide Curriculum Guide for the Global Event Series Journeys in Film www.journeysinfilm.org In Partnership with USC Rossier School of Education Copyright ©2016 NGC Network US, LLC, and NGC Network International, LLC. All rights reserved. Journeys in Film: MARS Educating for Global Understanding www.journeysinfilm.org Journeys in Film Staff National Advisory Board Joanne Strahl Ashe, Founding Executive Director Liam Neeson, National Spokesperson Eileen Mattingly, Director of Education/Curriculum Content Specialist Brooke Adams Amy Shea, Director of Research Alexi Ashe Meyers Roger B. Hirschland, Executive Editor Sharon Bialy Martine Joelle MacDonald, Program Director Ted Danson Ethan Silverman, Film Literacy Consultant Professor Alan Dershowitz Journeys in Film Board of Directors Sara Jo Fischer Joanne Strahl Ashe, Founder and Chairman Gary Foster Erica Spellman Silverman Scott Frank Diana Barrett Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Julie Lee Jill Iscol, Ed.D. Michael H. Levine Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter Authors of this curriculum guide Bruce R. Katz Ryan Chamberlain William Nix Julie Farhm Professor Richard A. Schweder Kate Fitzgerald Tony Shalhoub Jamor Gaffney Mary Steenburgen Glenn Klakring Walter Teller Mary Anne Kovacs Loung Ung Matt Lowell Elizabeth Clark Zoia Lara McCormick Harold Ramis (In Memoriam) Science Consultant Sonia Weitz (In Memoriam) David Mattingly, Ph.D. Journeys in Film National Geographic Channel 50 Sandia Lane 1145 17th Street NW Placitas, NM 87043 Washington, DC 20036 505.867.4666 http://channel.nationalgeographic.com www.journeysinfilm.org Journeys in Film: MARS Table of Contents Introduction About Journeys in Film 6 A Letter From Liam Neeson 8 A Letter From Ron Howard and Brian Grazer 9 Introducing MARS 10 To the Teacher 12 Lessons Lesson 1: Learning About Mars Through Space Exploration: Past, Present, and Future 15 (History, Science, Social Studies) Lesson 2: An Iceberg for the Red Planet: The Culture of Olympus Town 27 (Social Studies) Lesson 3: The Hazards of Mars: Programming an Interactive Story 41 (Creative Writing, Programming, Science) Lesson 4: Terraforming: Making Mars More Like Earth 69 (Language Arts, Social Studies, Science) Lesson 5: A Trip to Mars: Packing for Space Travel 93 (Math, Physics) Lesson 6: Are We There Yet? Distance and Speed in Space 123 (Math, History) Lesson 7: ‘The Martians Have Landed!’— Mars in Science Fiction 143 (Language Arts) Lesson 8: Writing Science Fiction 157 (Language Arts, Creative Writing) Journeys in Film: MARS About Journeys in Film Founded in 2003, Journeys in Film operates on the belief Why use this program? that teaching with film has the power to prepare students To be prepared to participate in tomorrow’s global arena, to live and work more successfully in the 21st century as students need to gain an understanding of the world beyond informed and globally competent citizens. Its core mission is their own borders. Journeys in Film offers innovative and to advance global understanding among youth through the engaging tools to explore other cultures and social issues, combination of age-appropriate films from around the world, beyond the often negative images seen in print, television, interdisciplinary classroom materials coordinated with the and film media. films, and teachers’ professional development offerings. This comprehensive curriculum model promotes widespread use For today’s media-centric youth, film is an appropriate and of film as a window to the world to help students to mitigate effective teaching tool. Journeys in Film has carefully selected existing attitudes of cultural bias, cultivate empathy, develop a quality films that tell the stories of young people living in richer understanding of global issues, and prepare for effective locations that may otherwise never be experienced by your participation in an increasingly interdependent world. Our students. Students travel through these characters and their standards-based lesson plans support various learning styles, stories: They drink tea with an Iranian family in Children of promote literacy, transport students around the globe, and Heaven, play soccer in a Tibetan monastery in The Cup, find foster learning that meets core academic objectives. themselves in the conflict between urban grandson and rural grandmother in South Korea in The Way Home, watch the Selected films act as springboards for lesson plans in subjects ways modernity challenges Maori traditions in New Zealand ranging from math, science, language arts, and social studies in Whale Rider, or tour an African school with a Nobel Prize- to other topics that have become critical for students, winning teenager in He Named Me Malala. including environmental sustainability, poverty and hunger, global health, diversity, and immigration. Prominent educators on our team consult with filmmakers and cultural specialists in the development of curriculum guides, each one dedicated to an in-depth exploration of the culture and issues depicted in a specific film. The guides merge effectively into teachers’ existing lesson plans and mandated curricular requirements, providing teachers with an innovative way to fulfill their school districts’ standards-based goals. 6 Journeys in Film: MARS In addition to our ongoing development of teaching guides for culturally sensitive foreign films, Journeys in Film brings outstanding documentary films to the classroom. Working with the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California, Journeys in Film has identified exceptional narrative and documentary films that teach about a broad range of social issues in real-life settings such as famine-stricken and war-torn Somalia, a maximum-security prison in Alabama, and a World War II concentration camp near Prague. Journeys in Film guides help teachers integrate these films into their classrooms, examining complex issues, encouraging students to be active rather than passive viewers, and maximizing the power of film to enhance critical thinking skills and to meet the Common Core Standards. Journeys in Film is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Journeys in Film: MARS 7 A Letter From Liam Neeson Working in films such as Michael By using carefully selected documentary and foreign films Collins and Schindler’s List, I’ve that depict life in other countries and cultures around seen the power of film not only the globe, combined with interdisciplinary curricula to to entertain, but also to change transform entertainment media into educational media, we the way audiences see themselves can use the classroom to bring the world to every student. and the world. When I first Our film program dispels myths and misconceptions, met Joanne Ashe, herself the enabling students to overcome biases; it connects the future daughter of Holocaust survivors, leaders of the world with each other. As we provide teachers she explained to me her vision for a new educational with lessons aligned to Common Core Standards, we are also program called Journeys in Film: Educating for Global laying a foundation for understanding, acceptance, trust, and Understanding. I grasped immediately how such a program peace. could transform the use of film in the classroom from a Please share my vision of a more harmonious world where passive viewing activity to an active, integral part of learning. cross-cultural understanding and the ability to converse I have served as the national spokesperson for Journeys in about complex issues are keys to a healthy present and a Film since its inception because I absolutely believe in the peaceful future. Whether you are a student, an educator, effectiveness of film as an educational tool that can teach a filmmaker, or a financial supporter, I encourage you to our young people to value and respect cultural diversity and participate in the Journeys in Film program. to see themselves as individuals who can make a difference. Please join this vital journey for our kids’ future. They are Journeys in Film uses interdisciplinary, standards-aligned counting on us. Journeys in Film gets them ready for the lesson plans that can support and enrich classroom programs world. in English, social studies, math, science, and the arts. Using films as a teaching tool is invaluable, and Journeys in Film Sincerely, has succeeded in creating outstanding film-based curricula integrated into core academic subjects. 8 Journeys in Film: MARS A Letter From Ron Howard and Brian Grazer science issues and look at them from a storyteller’s eye, so we played around with an idea about Elon Musk and SpaceX that connected to the bigger themes around Mars—why we need to get to Mars, how we’re going to colonize it, and how we’re going to support such a mission. It’s very important to us to present science and space exploration to the general public. We want to inspire the curious, spark the next generation of explorers and innovators, and showcase the best of ingenuity in this Brian Grazer (left) and Ron Howard. world and what it means for our future. We are constantly bombarded with negative news stories, but we want to We hope you enjoy watching MARS and experiencing the joy present the hope—the people who are making a difference of discovery that inspired us to make this film series. and doing something to face these incredible challenges. We are called movie producers. But at the heart of what we With MARS, our goal was to use this nexus of science, true-life really are is a storyteller. Life isn’t about finding the answers. adventure, and the drama of our human experience to offer It’s about asking the questions, and curiosity is a value we a really powerful event for audiences that we hope transports want to share. It infuses everything with a sense of possibility. them, stimulates the imagination, and fires the belief that space It helps us learn about parts of the world far from Hollywood, exploration is an important, inevitable aspect of humanity. to tell powerful stories and make good movies.