Download U4W6 Fluency - Mars, the red planet

Mars, the Red Planet
(Unit 4 Week 6)
These pictures show two planets. The planet on the left is our
Earth. The planet on the right is Mars. In the night sky, Mars looks
like a red star. People named it the Red Planet. We have launched
rockets to Mars. It was big news.
A whole day on Earth is a bit shorter than a day on Mars. Our
planet is much bigger than Mars. Mars has a pink sky, and ours is blue.
Mars has two moons, and we have one.
Each planet has volcanoes. Our highest volcano is less than a
third the size of this one on Mars. Each was formed when rocks deep
in the planet burst up through a fault, or crack, in the planet’s crust.
The air on Mars does not suit people, birds, or other animals, the
way our air does. We can grow all kinds of food, such as corn, fruit,
and bean plants, because Earth has so much water. Mars has no flowing
water, so plants cannot grow.
In 2003, we sent rovers like this to Mars. A rover can ride, turn,
and grab with its claws. It jerks back and forth and drills out a chunk
of rock. It measures the rock to see if it’s true that Mars had flowing
water at one time.
Mars could have had water, just as we do not. Mars has ice at
its north and south poles. Just a part of it is water. The rest is a
frozen gas. The term we use for this gas is “dry ice”.
We have questions about Mars. Is there life on Mars? People
might go to Mars some day and find out. They might make a shoe print
on Mars like this on the Moon. Would you like to land on Mars?
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