Learners work in teams to determine a landing site for their Mars Rover that best relates to their scientific question. They use technology skills to research Gale Crater through an online interactive module and learn about features of Mars through... (View More) use of Google Earth Mars. The lesson uses the 5E instructional model and includes: TEKS (Texas Standards alignment), Essential Question, Science Notebook, Vocabulary Definitions for Students, Vocabulary Definitions for Teachers, three Vocabulary Cards, and a Mini-Lesson. This is lesson 8 of the Mars Rover Celebration Unit, a six week long curriculum. (View Less)

Learners will explore the features of Mars through a demonstration of Google Earth Mars, gather, and analyze data from multiple sources on the internet as well as print sources, develop and use strategies for reading informational text to... (View More) systematically find information, and understand that Earth and Mars have similar geological features. The lesson uses the 5E instructional model and includes: TEKS Details (Texas Standards alignment), Essential Question, Science Notebook, Vocabulary Definitions for Students, Vocabulary Definitions for Teachers, two Vocabulary Cards, and a reading strategy supplement. This is lesson 3 of the Mars Rover Celebration Unit, a six week long curriculum. (View Less)

Learners will research a past, present, or future mission to Mars and share their findings with the group. The group will then create an overall Mars exploration timeline. A script, links for background sources and suggested materials are available.... (View More) Note: See Related & Supplemental resources (right) for updated links to Earth vs. Mars slide show and NASA Mars Exploration website. This is lesson 4 of 16 in the MarsBots learning module. (View Less)

Learners will use a variety of resources to conduct research to try to find answers to the questions they generated in previous activities. They continue to work the way scientists do by communicating what they learned from their research about Mars... (View More) and present questions they still have and that others might want to think about researching in the future. This is activity 8 of 9 in Mars and Earth: Science Learning Activities for After School. (View Less)

In this concluding activity, learners will use notes from an earlier lesson to write a nonfiction piece about Saturn or Cassini. These final projects provide a way for children with varying learning styles to consolidate and share their learning.... (View More) This is lesson 12 of 12 in the Mission to Saturn Educators Guide, Reading Writing Rings, for grades 3-4. (View Less)

This lesson is about Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Learners will listen to a narrative "told" by the Huygens probe, entitled Memoirs of a Spacecraft. Visualization and drawing are used as motivators to enhance comprehension and to get students... (View More) thinking about Titan and what we might find there. Next, students will read a factual article, entitled All About Titan and the Huygens Probe, and write a summary. This is lesson 8 of 12 in the Mission to Saturn Educators Guide, Reading Writing Rings, for grades 3-4. (View Less)

Learners will organize their knowledge of Saturn and Cassini to prepare to write one of the following types of nonfiction for their final piece: descriptive (poetry), compare and contrast, or summary. This is lesson 11 of 12 in the Mission to Saturn... (View More) Educators Guide, Reading Writing Rings, for grades 3-4. (View Less)

Learners will extend and enhance their current understandings about Saturn by reading a series of Saturn minibooks, and learn a note-taking technique that will help them better understand nonfiction text. They use their notes for descriptive writing... (View More) and to compare and contrast with new information that we learn about Saturn from Cassini. This is lesson 5 of 12 in the Mission to Saturn Educators Guide, Reading Writing Rings, for grades 3-4. (View Less)