Teachers Notes

This unit may take several sessions to complete, but please feel free to adapt the material to suit your particular classroom situation. Using internal resources (library books, internet searches, any resources from home) students will research information to create a project folder that should include graphic organisers, images, diagrams and stories.

In this instance we have suggested a format for the project folder, but encourage students ownership and modification.

You can download and print out a Student Sheet for easy reference.

Cooperative Mastery Learning

This project has been designed for cooperative mastery learning. Students assemble and modify foldables with teacher/peer feedback and formative assessment. Each student should produce their own project, but collaboration and discussion are encouraged and students may share research. Students that finish early can either extend their project or assist others to complete theirs. Folders can be used to keep all material together, but need not be assembled (stuck down) until all the components are satisfactory - every student can achieve Excellent! (*see Assessment Rubric).

There are two parts to this project:

Mars the Planet

The project should include basic information such as size, position in the Solar System, as well as information about major geological features such as the largest volcano in the Solar System (Olympus Mons) and largest canyon (Valles Marineris), impact craters and their different distribution between the north and south hemispheres, north and south poles with the presence of 'dry' and water ice, and Mars' two moons. Students may also be interested in the location and fate of unmanned robotic probes sent to Mars, particularly the Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit and Opportunity, and Phoenix, the Mars Polar Lander.

Information about the climatic and weather conditions on Mars is also essential. Mars is a cold and windy planet with huge dust storms that occasionally envelop the entire planet. Mars robots have sent back images of frost, clouds and 'dust devils'.

Living and Working on Mars

Students should research the essential needs of humans on Mars: air, water, food, fuel, shelter and perhaps exploration, and design a Base that provides space for living and working on another planet. Students will also need to understand how space communications work - that signals are sent/received from ground-based antennas, and relayed to orbiting satellites that send radio signals across interplanetary distances.