Mars In The Classroom
Mars In The Classroom
The project team from the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the
Department of Geological Sciences,
University College London. From left
to right: Paula Martin, Sarah Dunkin, Matt Balme and David Heather.
Some of the teachers from Nicholas Hawksmoor School, Borehamwood (UK),
helping us through the pilot year of the project
The project is currently funded by `The Council for the Public Understanding of Science' (COPUS)
of The Royal Society, UK.
Playdoh Volcanoes! - What's underneath a volcano such as Olympus Mons? Using playdoh to construct your own volcano and `expensive drill core equipment' (i.e. straws and craft knives), students can reconstruct its history and learn about the problems associated with these sampling techniques. See the Playdoh volcano page for further details.
Martian Impact Cratering - Lots of things affect the shape and size of an impact crater, some of which are illustrated by this experiment. Students can investigate the effects of projectile velocity, impact angle, and the presence of water. It can also show how subsurface layers are affected by the impact during excavation. Further details are available on the impact cratering pages.
Choccy Rocks - Chocolates and cakes with various `inclusions' (filings) can be used to provide an excellent analogy to textures in real rocks. Students learn not to take the initial appearance of rocks for granted and learn to appreciate the complexity of analysing rocks, underlining the value of sending a human to study rocks on Mars over robotic missions. Further details are available on our choccy rocks pages.
Mission Planning - When the students have an understanding of the planet Mars and some of the problems associated with sending people on extended duration missions over large distances, they will be guided through discussions in which they will plan their own mission. They are provided with both weight and monetary constraints and guidelines as to the cost and weight of mission elements, and asked to draw up a mission plan that best satisfies their mission aims. The results of their missions will then be presented to the rest of the class, and the details put on the team web pages. See the mission planning pages for more details.
Face on Mars - Using the face on Mars as an example, this experiment shows how the appearance of an object can be changed simply by altering lighting conditions. For advanced students, it may be possible to design and build their own `Face on Mars'.
Design Your Own Mars Rover - Armed with mission objectives and a knowledge of the surface of Mars, students are asked to design a Mars rover which can meet all of the criteria set. They will be given a list of components and their cost, and are required to stay within a specified budget. Students will be encouraged to investigate all factors relevant to the performance of the rover, including its power source, manoeuverability across the rocky surface of Mars and its control.
Build Your Own Martian Shield Volcano! (Albin, E.F. LPSC XXIX Education Abstract, 1998) - By building a wax shield volcano, students can learn about how these structures form over time. Successive `lava flows' will illustrate how a volcano circularises at the base, and will produce a caldera and `lava' lake in time. It will become clear that to make a volcano such as those seen on Mars, dozens of `eruptions' are necessary.
Martian Soil (Allen, C.C. et al. LPSC Abstracts XXIX, 1998) - This soil simulant was obtained from Pu'u Nene (a cinder cone on the island of Hawai'i). It has similar reflectance properties to Martian soil, and common characteristics in its chemical composition. With data obtained from previous Mars missions and with information about the simulant (such as grain size, volatile content and magnetic properties), students can identify similarities and differences between the two.
Sci-Kits - Build Your Own Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) - These DIY models are available commercially from Sci-Kits, made from laser cut paper. MGS takes approximately 4 hours to complete and the full kit includes fact sheets and full instructions for assembly. By building the models, students can learn about the structure of the spacecraft and its configuration at different stages of the mission.
Other topics that are open for experimental work include: Water on Mars; Winds on Mars; Gelatin Martian Volcanoes; Cake Mixture Lava Flows (see the Hawai'i web pages for details of these); Remote Sensing (using the ALTA hand held reflectance spectrometer)......
Further discussions are almost limitless! However, a few points that should definitely be covered are: Crew members (number, skills etc.); ethics (should we go?); economic considerations; political will; scientific objectives; the implications of living in space; mission duration; astronaut psychology.......
Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge the help of Douglas Heather in the practical aspects of this project. We would also like to thank Hayley Dunkin, Steven Dunkin and Grace and Jordan McCatty for their artwork, and Maureen Evans for the loan of her catapult! Particular thanks are extended to those who have developed the projects upon which some of these workshops are based. Finally, a big thank you has to go to the staff and students of Nicholas Hawksmoor School; the staff for the enthusiasm and support offered throughout the project, and the students in turn for their enthusiasm, and for not making toobig a mess of the classroom during the practicals! This work is currently funded by COPUS of the Royal Society, UK.
Mars in the Classroom Pages
Basic information on Mars | Early observations of Mars | Spacecraft exploration of MarsOther Pages
Hawai'i impact crater notes | Hawai'i Playdoh volcano notes | Hawai'i Edible Rocks pages
