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Material Presented by Educators at the Mars Observer Thermal Emission Spectrometer FIRST K - 12 Educators' Workshop

Saturday, 20 February 1993

Arizona State University

Tempe, Arizona

During the afternoon session, teachers divided up into groups according to grade level and spent some time brain-storming ideas on how the Mars Observer TES mission could be conveyed or instructed in their classrooms. These ideas were then presented to the entire conference on overhead transparencies.

[In the Hardcopy] are copies of the original transparencies presented by the teachers at the 20 February 1993 Workshop. The following text includes the material written on the transparencies presented by the teachers at the 20 February 1993 workshop. Perhaps you will want to take some of these ideas and "run with" them.

Grades K - 1:

• What do we know about Mars? Space?
• What do we want to learn about Mars? Space?
• What have we learned about Mars? Space?

Ideas for Projects, Etc

• Scoop test for soil - just like Viking in 1976
  • rock/soil from school yard
  • rock/soil from child's back yard
  • rock/soil from park down the street
  • rock/soil from vacations
  • compare & contrast soils, map their locations

• Make craters-- drop steel in pan of flour with tempra

• Learning Centers with materials to build space stations

• Develop vocabulary

• Space books center

• Heat Source (light bulb) -- distance from affects heat

• Pet rocks collected-- pretend they are space rocks (writing activities)

• Measure student shadows variously throughout the day

• Drop mudballs on pavement to demo disintegration of meteorite on impact

• Destroy myth of "sunrise" and "sunset"

• Demo concept of density using uniflated/inflated balloon held to light source, or sink/float activity

• Encouragement of girls in classrooms

• Using prisms to show colors of light-- i.e., intro to spectrometer

Grades 2 - 3

Language Arts

• Creative writing: Keep a log of a Martian community with small groups assigned special tasks of running the community.
• Poetry: Write about the future or past
• Martian newspaper
• Songs

Drama

• Role playing on situations critical to survival of a Martian community

Arts

• Design a flag or seal

Literature

• "Papa Please Get Me The Moon," by Eric Carle
• Isaac Asimov
• % Robert Heinlein

Social Studies

• Social Interaction
• Create a Government
• National Anthem

Math

• Planets to scale: Distance, Relative Size, Mass
• Architectural structures possible on Mars: Villages, Communities
• Designing land rovers
• Economy
• Invent a Martian mathematical base-- eg. base 7

Geography

• Rotations
• Axis, Poles
• Latitude, Longitude
• Seasons
• Craters, Landforms
• Relief maps

Science

• Hydroponics
• Design and outfit to be worn safely on Mars
• Create a humanoid who could live on Mars

Health

• Exercise will be very different
• Food
• Respitory difficulties?

Needs

• Video of Challenger Center's Marsville
• Slides about Mars to borrow
• Ideas for hands-on activities related to Mars Project
• Who develops activities?

Grades 4 - 6

1. Central check-out place for related materials (e.g., videos, hands-on materials). Materials should be bilingual and possibly kept at Arizona State Univ.

2. Provide a monthly meeting for teachers to share materials and ideas.

3. Provide a centrcentralized location to be used as teaching center & to use as a field trip site.

4. Place to copy materials.

5. Dr. Lebofsky (Univ. Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Tucson)- has bilingual workshops on planetary sciences.

6. Lab-on-wheels concept.

7. Put this [Mars program] into teacher training programs at Arizona State Univ.

8. Tie into other science areas (i.e., Social Studies) and present a workshop at the state meeting.

9. Make slides available to teachers.

10. At the ASU Book Store, put in souvenirs related to the Mars project.

11. Sign-out at each individual school of teacher-created materials.

12. Provide names and addresses of where to get maps.

13. Science, Technology, and Society (602/965-4018) Basement of Paine Bldg.-- books, materials, etc. 15. Make the videos available that you showed us at the Moeur Bldg.

16. Create software (e.g., similar to Oregon Trail but take a space trip to Mars)-- simulation game that includes decision making, experiments, and problem solving.

17. Send 6 blank (unwrapped) tapes to JPL- Teacher Resource Center, you get "The Best of JPL" video tape (send on school letterhead).

18. join Arizona Science Teachers Association

Grades 7 - 8

• Specific job descriptions from researchers to mimic/simulate similar in classroom. (Expanding on idea of bringing in a rock sample to get a spectrum).

• Construction of Mars Observer history, prototypes, model, design technology. What other info do you need? Data? Lego models, Logo designs...

• Study Biosphere II and tie into Mars, Challenger Center Marsville (probably after topographic study). Human needs, planning, habitats.

• Laser altimeter is sending beams back---> shoebox topography-- topographic mapping on large grid; change grid size to focus in

• Look at Viking info. and what they did with 1st data collected; then bring to now what will we do with the new data? Huge volumes of data being lost or difficult to obtain. What are some of the problems we may encounter with increased volume. Managment on research teams.

• Stories of actual problems encountered in gathering instrumentation, social problems, why so time intensive and expensive.

• Original conception of research as project grows.

• Studying photos and posing explanations for formations they see.

• Group to support and promote project, foster business partnerships

• ASSET (PBS TV) tie in - demo lessons by kids broadcasting and receiving info at Moeur Bldg.; "NASA Launchbox" on Nickelodean TV-- game show format with trivia Could do self networking of kids, demo. activities
  • South Mtn. High School- will come and videotape
  • or local cable TV will
  • South Mtn. H.S. good because of role models

• Shadowing program for teachers to come to ASU and watch

Grades 9 - 12

• Process - Driven Education
• Experiential Education
• Open-Ended Discovery
• No Recipe Approach
• Problem Solving Approach
• Across the curriculum-- historical perspectives

Education Possibilities:

• Student as investigator, researcher

• Students working together
  • cooperative research teams
  • colloquium- students share results

• "Disk of the Month Club"-- get Mars data out to students ASAP

• "Upper Level" students as interns at TES facility
  • e.g., measuring IR spectra of student rock samples to compare with Mars

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  TES 1993-1994 Curriculum Guide / K.S. Edgett /edgett@elvis.mars.asu.edu