Download Into the Solar System-Mars

Into the Solar System: Mars
Objectives
• students will define gravity and list the planets in the solar system
• students will create an acrostic using the first letters of the nine planets
of the solar system
• students will build a Mars community for 100 people using Legos and
other household items
• students will learn about the asteroid belt between mars and Jupiter
and report back to the class
Suggested Grade Level
5
Subject Areas
Science
Reading
Writing
Technology
Timeline
3-4 one hour sessions
Background
Students should have some knowledge of each of the planets, especially Mars.
Students may be interested in past scientific and imaginative concepts of Mars.
After Earth, Mars was once thought to be the planet in our solar system most
likely to support life. Early astronomers believed that they saw canals on Mars
because Mars has an atmosphere and polar ice caps. Astronomers
hypothesized that there was water and vegetation there to support intelligent life.
Many science fiction films and books have been based on the theme of Martians
visiting Earth. One of these is H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, written near the
turn of the century. On Halloween in 1938, Orson Wells presented the story on
the radio. The effect was so realistic that many of his audience thought the
program was an eye-witness account. Some listeners panicked, packers their
possessions and tried to run away from the “invaders.” In reality, Mars is dusty
and apparently barren, with no water or vegetation at all.
What if we colonized Mars? The most likely future for Mars from a human point
of view is a mining colony, supplying us with minerals that have been exhausted
on Earth. The writers of Star Trek got there first: The great shipyards that built
the starship Enterprise-D and other Galaxy class starships are located in
asynchronous orbit (orbiting at the same speed as Mars itself) some 100,000
miles above the plain of Utaopia Planitia. This is not as far fetched as it sounds.
Mars is rich in minerals—especially iron and aluminum, which, even in the 24th
century, will still be the basis of engineering construction. The other elements
required to make complex starship alloys would be needed in much smaller
quantities, so they could be shipped in from other sources such as Mercury or
the Asteroid Belt. In Star Trek, the shipyards are fed with materials by a largely
automated mining operation. The alloys are partially created on the surface, then
transferred to the shipyards by a Magnetic Pulse Transfer Generator (MPTG),
which shoots the material skyward on a beam of electromagnetic energy. Again,
Mars is ideal for such an operation. Its surface gravity is only a third that of
Earth’s, so the energy needed to do this is much reduced.
Could we make Mars more like Earth? A more ambitious plan for colonizing
Mars involves melting the reserves of ice that some scientists believe lie trapped
below the surface. In time, this water would evaporate into the atmosphere,
making it denser and creating a greenhouse effect similar to the global warming
that currently threatens life on Earth. As the icy surface of Mars began to warm
up, it would melt more ice reserves, causing seas to form in lower-lying regions.
At this point, plant life could be introduced. The plants would feed off the carbon
dioxide-rich atmosphere, releasing the nitrogen and oxygen that are necessary
for humans to breathe.
Materials
spherical object to represent the Earth
toothpicks
lamp or flashlight
photos taken by the Viking probes- can be found at
www.hq.nasa/office/pao/Library/photo.html and pictures of sojourner at
http://ranier.oact.hq.nasa.gov/telerobotics_page/Photos/Sojourner.jpg
various texts on the universe, solar system, and eminent people in the fields of
exploration and invention
supply of Legos
Lesson
Vocabulary
solar system- the sun and the bodies that move in orbit around it
gravity- the force of attraction that exists between all pieces of matter in
the universe
planets- one of the nine large heavenly bodies circling the sun
polar ice cap- the icy region that surrounds the north pole
channel- a narrow stretch of water between two areas of land
colonize- to establish a new colony in
asteroids- a very small planet that travels around the sun
Activity
1. Challenge students to create an acrostic using the first letters of the nine
planets of the Solar System, or pick just one planet and make one for it.
2. Have students research the word gravity and create their own definition.
3. In 1984, scientists studied a four pound meteorite fragment that may
provide evidence of past life on Mars. The evidence was found inside a
small rock discovered on an ice sheet in Antarctica. Along with Martian
minerals, the rock contained shapes like fossil bacteria and worms. Soon
after the discovery, two probes, Mars Global Surveyor and mars
Pathfinder, were launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Pathfinder carried a two-foot-long, six-wheeled robot named Sojourner to
take pictures and test soil. Discuss this with students.
4. Study who Sojourner Truth was and discuss why the little rover was
named after her.
5. Have students build a Mars community for 100 using Legos and other
household items.
6. Between Mars and its neighbor Jupiter is a band of asteroids, chunks of
space rock and metal irregular in shape. The asteroids are much smaller
than planets. Ceres, the largest in size, is 600 miles in diameter, about as
wide as Texas. Hundreds of thousands of these rocks circle the Sun in
this band. Have groups of students learn more about the asteroid belt and
report back to the rest of the class. Some questions to ponder are: What
are they made of? Where did they come from? What keeps them in
orbit?
Extensions
Mars Bingo- attached
Evaluation/Assessment
• students defined gravity and list the planets in the solar system
• students created an acrostic using the first letters of the nine planets of
the solar system
• students built a Mars community for 100 people using Legos and other
household items
• students learned about the asteroid belt between mars and Jupiter and
report back to the class
Resources
Secrets of the Universe, Your Guide to the Cosmos… and Beyond, Stamford,
CT, International Masters Publishers 1992 USP 5501 15 001
Scouting the Solar System, Kansas City, MO, Hostess-Interstate Brands
Corporation, 1997
Mars Bingo
Questions and Answers
1. How many moons does Mars have?
(2)
2. What is the name of Mars’ larger moon?
3. What is the name of Mars’ smaller moon?
(Phobos)
(Deimos)
4. How long does it take Phobos to rotate around Mars? (8 hrs)
5. How long does it take Deimos to rotate around Mars? (30 hrs)
6. How long is one day on Mars?
(24.6 hours)
7. What is the name of the large volcano on Mar? (Olympus Mons)
8. The base of the large volcano on Mars would cover what state? (Missouri)
9. What is the name of the large canyon on Mars? (Valles Marineris)
10. What is the length of a year on Mars? (687 days)
How many miles away from the Sun is Mars?
(142 million)
12. How much larger is Olympus Mans than Mt. Everest? (3 times)
13. Is Mars the third or fourth planet from the Sun? (fourth)
14. In July 2003 a new probe was launched to Mars. What is its name?
(Opportunity)
15. In June 2003, a new probe was launched to Mars. What is its name?
(Spirit)
16. When was the Mars Polar Lander Launched? (01/1999)
17. What was the name of the rover on board the Mars Polar Lander?
(Sojourner)
18. What is frozen carbon dioxide called? (dry ice)
19. What is the diameter of Mars? (4219 miles)
20. Mars is red because when iron reacts with oxygen it forms what? (rust)
21. What is Mars’ nickname? (The Red Planet)
22. Mars’ gravity is what percent of the Earth’s gravity? (38%)
23. Mars’ polar ice caps are made of what element? (carbon dioxide)
24. Pathfinder landed on Mars on what date? (07/04/1997)
25. In what year did Viking I land on Mars? (1976)
26. What is the name of the crater on Mars that is 125 miles across?
Crater)
(Galle
27. On average how fast do Mars winds blow? (125 miles per hour)
28. One of Mars’ moons, Phobos is expected to crash into Mars in
approximately how many years? (100,000)
29. What landform features crisscross Mars’ surface? (dry river beds)
30. The base of Olympus Mans measures how many miles across?
miles)
(375
31. Mars is made mostly of two elements, what are they? (silicon and iron)
32. What two elements cause Mars to be red in color? (iron and oxygen)
33. When Pathfinder hit the surface of Mars it bounced how many times before
coming to a rest? (16 times)
34. Pathfinder continued to transmit data on what date? (09/27/1997)
35. What Mars probe landed 13 miles off target in the Ares Vallis region?
(Pathfinder)
Pathfinder
Phobos
Deimos
Missouri
375 miles
across
The Red
Planet
38%
Two
Carbon
dioxide
Galle
Crater
Dust
storms
Fourth
Sojourner
16 times
Spirit
1976
24.6 hours
Carbon
Dioxide
1976
8 hours
Iron &
Oxygen
Silicon &
Iron
Viking
30 hours
Dry river beds
687 days
Opportunity
Spirit
16 times
07/04/1007
Sojourner
142 million
miles
rust
07/04/1997
Dry ice
30 hours
Valles
Marineris
687 days
Dust storms
two
Silicon and
iron
Viking
09/27/1997
38%
8 hours
142 million
miles
fourth
Missouri
16 times
1976
Iron and
oxygen
Spirit
Dry ice
142 million
miles
Pathfinder
Mariner
Deimos
two
Dust storms
24.6 hours
Olympus Mans
carbon
09/27/1997
Galle
Crater
Polar Lander
1976
4219 miles
16 times
Opportunity
100,000
years
375 miles
across
687 days
Silicon and
Iron
Carbon
dioxide
24.6 hours
two
Missouri
Sojourner
Valles
Marineris
Phobos
38%
07/04/1997
09/27/1997
8 hours
The Red
Planet
3 times
rust
Dust storms
Galle Crater
142 million
miles
Olympus
Mons
Valles
Marineris
Polar
Lander
4219 miles
01/1999
fourth
Iron and
oxygen
Silicon and
iron
Spirit
01/1999
Pathfinder
Dry ice
8 hours
two
fourth
The Red
Planet
Dry river beds
687 days
30 hours
Viking
07/04/1997
Deimos
fourth
Viking
1976
8 hours
Iron &
Oxygen
Silicon &
Iron
Deimos
30 hours
Dry river beds
687 days
Opportunity
Spirit
16 times
07/04/1007
Sojourner
The Red
Planet