Preview of coming attractions


From: Linda Conrad <lindac@quest.arc.nasa.gov>
Subject: Preview of coming attractions
Date: Mon, 23 Sep 1996 20:08:03 -0700 (PDT)


Hi folks,

The annotated, working copy of the Table of Contents for the Teacher 
Guide is online now at:  http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/teachers/tg

Linda

For your convenience, a text version follows:

    Live from Mars Teacher's Guide

              Table of Contents
             as of 9-23-96 (subject to change) 

Introductory Articles

      * Project Notes 
      * Letter of welcome from the Project Director and
        Executive Producer 
      * Video, Online and Print: a Guide to the integrated
        multimedia components, with specific examples (e.g.
        Field Journals, etc.) keyed to an overview of the project 
      * Teacher-to-Teacher: Live from Mars as an unique
        opportunity, Pat Haddon. How to implement the project
        over 2 school years, and/or adapt it to local circumstances
        NASA's Mars missions timeline, and the Live from Mars
        implementation timeline (graphic) Suggestions for
        correlations between fixed mission dates (e.g. launch,
        landing, etc.), fixed project dates (the live videos) and
        other project activities 
      * Opening Activities: Project Objectives/Program 1 
             * Activity A-1 -Mars Mission Logbooks: an
               assessment tool for students and teachers A way
               for students to record and reflect on their
               learning experience 
             * Activity A-2 - Constructing a "History of Mars
               Exploration" Timeline the past is prolog... 
             * Activity A-3 - Become a member of the Live
               from Mars Mission Team: an introduction to the
               men and women of the MGS and MPF project,
               their roles, and an invitation to students to
               "imagine" themselves into the project 
             * Activity A-4 - Mission Planning: Earth/Mars
               Comparisons
               A-4 Student Worksheet exploring "Same and
               Different" features of the two planets 
             * Activity A-5 - Mission Planning: Geology and
               Areology
               My state, nation and Mars 

Program 1 "COUNTDOWN" Description

      * Activity 1.1 Rocket Science 101
        Student Worksheets
        Experiments with balloon rockets
      * Activity 1.2 Mapping the Topography of Unknown
        Surfaces a simulation of how MGS's laser altimeter will
        be used to create a global topographic map of Mars 
      * Activity 1.3 Follow the Water -- Investigations with
        stream tables
        1.3 Student Worksheet
        Hands-on experiments to explore the processes which led
        to channels on Mars most likely made by running water

Program 2 "CRUISING BETWEEN THE
PLANETS" Description

      * Activity 2.1 Observing Mars in the Night Sky
        Sidebar: MarsWatch '97, The "Opposition Opportunity"
        Building a model to demonstrate Mars' retrograde motion
        -- out of students, and how to enlist local astronomers
        during the Spring 1997 "opposition" (closest approach of
        Mars to Earth.) 
      * Activity 2.2 Building Rovers out of Junk
        Experiments with designs for planetary rovers 
      * Activity 2.3 Reading the Shapes of Volcanoes on Earth
        and Mars
        How slope angles can tell us about plate tectonics, and
        the past history of volcanoes

Program 3 "TOUCHDOWN" Description

      * Activity 3.1The Incredible Light Bulb-Egg Drop
        Challenge
        sidebar: Pathfinder, the Incredible Bouncing Spacecraft
        Engineering to protect a fragile "Descent Module"
      * Activity 3.2Creating Craters
        3.2 Student Worksheet
        Students experiment with mass, velocity and size of
        impact bodies, to simulate craters seen on Earth, the
        Moon, and Mars
      * Activity 3.3Detecting Magnetic Materials in "Martian
        Soil"
        An activity to provide context for one of MPF's
        experiments

Program 4 "WITH PATHFINDER TO MARS"
Description

       A note on how to use this taped program to begin the
       ongoing project with new students in the new school
       year: Activities are drawn from Programs 1 - 3.

Program 5 "TODAY ON MARS" Description

      * Activity 5.1 Using Heat Radiation to Characterize a
        Planet's Surface
        5.1.A, B Inside and Outside Lab Worksheets
        An activity to provide context for one of MGS's
        experiments, the Thermal Emission Spectrometer
      * Activity 5.2 "And here's today's weather on Mars... "
        How to access and use the live weather data that will be
        coming down from MPF, and the first data from MGS
      * Activity 5.3 Sun, Shadows, Surface Structure... and the
        Face on Mars
        Building and lighting models to show how to interpret
        novel landforms

Wrap-Up Activities

      * Activity B-1 Been there, Done that... Where Next?
        Selecting sites for upcoming missions: synthesizing
        project learning to date, and projecting forward
      * Activity B-2 The Case for Mars: flags, philosophy, the
        future...
      * Activity B-3 Assessing the project, and providing
        feedback
      * Getting the most out of the Online Components
      * MultiMedia Resources and Recommendations: books,
        video, CD-ROMS, etc.
      * Glossary, Vocabulary and Key Concepts
      * Science Standards and Themes Matrix, correlating
        Activities to the National Standards, and indicating
        interdisciplinary connections

Co-packaged materials

      * Student Worksheets
      * Copy masters of graphics required for the Activities
      * A note on Assessment, and EDC's pre-paid registration
        postcard
      * the Live from Mars poster
      * MGS and MPF Fact Sheets (NASA)
      * MPF brochure (NASA)