This lesson plan teaches how to select the landing site for a planetary surface investigation, using the 5E learning cycle. Students will be able to determine a landing site for their Mars rover; work with their team to summarize information and... (View More) identify important details in non-fiction writing; research Gale Crater through an online interactive module; use Google Earth Mars to learn about Mars surface features; gather and analyze data to conduct a scientific experiment; collect and record data in a science notebook to draw logical and scientific conclusions; define and identify the role of controls and variables in teams’ scientific or technical questions; and differentiate between weather and climate. The lesson plan has a number of appendices, including standards alignment. This is Lesson 8 of the elementary school version of the 6 week Mars Rover Celebration curriculum. (View Less)

In this lesson, students will design a planetary surface rover to conduct a planetary surface investigation. It uses the 5E learning cycle and is designed around an essential question: How will creating a prototype of your rover help you prepare for... (View More) the Mars Rover Celebration? The lesson objectives are to: learn about scientific careers to gain a better understanding of a sampling of careers that have contributed to designing and developing Curiosity; draw a detailed, final-design sketch/diagram of the rover that will be built; identify missions, requirements and features of the rover using labels and captions when necessary. A number of appendices are provided, including standards alignment. This is Lesson 12 of the elementary school version of the 6-week Mars Rover Celebration curriculum. (View Less)

This is a lesson about generating hypotheses and testable questions. Learners will use critical thinking and a collaborative approach to pose questions related to the study of Mars and evaluate the quality of their questions. They will explore... (View More) remote-sensing data collected by a camera orbiting Mars - the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) and develop a team science question. Students will practice critical thinking skills, use a collaborative approach to this first critical step of the scientific process. Exploring the images of the surface of Mars in Visible (VIS) images, students will come up with a topic of study, their team science question and hypotheses. The lesson models scientific inquiry using the 5E instructional model and includes teacher notes and vocabulary. (View Less)

Learners will brainstorm possible solutions for the scientific question generated in lesson 5 of this unit and determine the reasonableness of solutions. The lesson uses the 5E instructional model and includes: TEKS Details (Texas Standards... (View More) alignment), Essential Question, Science Notebook, Vocabulary Definitions for Students, Vocabulary Definitions for Teachers, two Vocabulary Cards, and a concept map supplement. This is lesson 6 of the Mars Rover Celebration Unit, a six week long curriculum. (View Less)

Learners will construct a valid scientific question that can be answered by data and/or modeling and choose an appropriate mission for their rover that will answer their scientific question. The lesson uses the 5E instructional model and includes:... (View More) TEKS Details (Texas Standards alignment), Essential Question, Science Notebook, Vocabulary Definitions for Students, Vocabulary Definitions for Teachers, four Vocabulary Cards, and supplements on writing a scientific question and possible Mission Choices. This is lesson 5 of the Mars Rover Celebration Unit, a six week long curriculum. (View Less)

This is a detailed lesson about heat transfer and distance. Learners will design and conduct experiments to answer the question, "how does distance and inclination affect the amount of heat received from a heat source?" They will measure heat change... (View More) as a function of distance or viewing angle. From that experiment, they will identify how the MESSENGER mission to Mercury takes advantage of these passive cooling methods to keep the spacecraft comfortable in a high-temperature environment. This is lesson 3 from MESSENGER Education Module: Staying Cool. Note: the student guide starts on p. 24 of the PDF. (View Less)

This is a lesson about radiation and the use of the scientific method to solve problems of too much radiation. Learners will build snow goggles similar to those used by the Inuit (designed to block unwanted light, while increasing the viewer’s... (View More) ability to see in a bright region) to understand some of the engineering challenges encountered while protecting the solar cells on the Mercury MESSENGER. This is Lesson 2 of 4 at the middle level in the module, Staying Cool. (View Less)

This is a lesson about infrared radiation. Learners will investigate invisible forms of light as they conduct William Herschel’s experiment and subsequent discovery of infrared radiation. They will construct a device to measure the presence of... (View More) infrared radiation in sunlight, explain that visible light is only part of the electromagnetic spectrum of radiation emitted by the Sun, follow the path taken by Herschel through scientific discovery, explain why we would want to use infrared radiation to study Mercury and other planets, and explain how excess infrared radiation is a concern for the MESSENGER mission. This is activity 1 of 4 at the Grade 5-8 band of "Staying Cool." (View Less)

This is a lesson about the Cassini mission to Saturn. Learners will create their Saturn Discovery Logs. They will use the Saturn Discovery Log to chronicle their journey of discovery about Saturn and Cassini through nonfiction writing. For their... (View More) first log entry, students will draw what they picture when they hear the words "Saturn" and "Cassini," and add labels and captions to their drawings. Students will share their work with partners. This is lesson 1 of 12 in "Reading, Writing & Rings!" for grades 3-4. (View Less)