The Martian-Sun Times

As weather reporters for the internet newspaper, The Martian Sun-Times, students obtain current data on seasons, temperatures and clouds on Mars and compare to conditions on Earth.

Key Questions
1. What are the climate conditions on Mars?

2. How is the climate on Mars similar or different to that of Earth?

3. Could their be life on Mars?

Learning Objectives
1. Students will be able to gather, interpret, and compare current weather information for Mars and Earth.

2. Students will be able to compare how the climates are similar and different on Mars and the Earth.

3. Students will be able to investiagate the theories about life on Mars.

Detailed Learning Objectives

General Subject Areas
Meterology, Space Science

Author: Florence Vaughn, Jeff Benson

VIEW THE LESSON

Student Activities
Students will conduct six (6) different investigations, each corresponding to one of the accompanying student worksheets. The site provides links to other sites where students can find the necessary informaiton to carry out an analysis of Martian weather, seasons, and speculations about life on the red planet. After their reseach students will present their findings.

Student Prerequisites
Students need basic familiarity with using a web browser as well as graphing skills.

Assessment
Students or groups will prepare their graphs and results for presentation as a travel brochure, human interest - or Martian interest - story, fashion report, disaster report, or weather prediction. Study questions on the activity worksheet should be completed by each group.

Extended Learning
N/A

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Time Requirements
Approximately one hour prep time for the teacher and six class periods for the students.

Materials Required
-Internet connected computer with WWW browsing capabilities
-Copies of the activity worksheets
-Mars Stats, Earth Stats
-Temperature and Wind speed Conversion Charts
-Several Earth globes and/or atlases
-Optional: book resources about the Dust Bowl

Required Plugins
N/A

Additional Resources
Lesson Notes

Best For Grades
middle school

National Science Education Standards (NSES)
grades 5-8

State Science Standards
Grade 5 Earth Sciences
Grade 8 Physical Science

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