<<<<<< CONGRATULATIONS! >>>>>>

We would like to acknowledge the winning entry submitted
by Grade 4S from East School in New Philadelphia, Ohio.
Their answers were the most accurate (all ten were completely
correct) and well-composed.  Congratulations to Miss Steadman's
Class! Great work, students!

Honorable Mention goes to two Olegario Puente from Giddings Elementary
(Texas) and Ms. Darlene Taylor's Mesa Class at Dixon Middle School
in Provo, Utah!  Way to go!!


A >>> special thanks to Dr. Ken Edgett<<<< for reviewing CQ #6 entries
and assisting in the selection of winners.

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ANSWERS FROM PARTICIPANTS:


From: April Weyand
Subject: CHALLENGE QUESTION

Olegario Puente, a Fifth Grade student from Giddings Elementary School,
1010 E. Industry, Giddings, TX, answers CQ#6:  What five features
make Mars most like Earth? And, what five features make Mars most
unlike Earth?  Mars is like Earth because 1. Mars has ice caps like the
Earth has at the North and South Poles.  2.  It has sandstorms like we
have in East Texas.  3. It has craters like we have in Hawaii and the
great depression occupied by Lake Crater in Oregon.  4.  It has canyons
like we have at the Grand Canyon.  5.  It has volcanoes like we have in
the United States and Mexico.  The features that make Mars different
than the Earth is:  1.  Mars is a red color.  2.  It has a solid rocky
core while Earth's solid inner core is iron and nickle.  3. Its average
temperature is -40 degrees F.  4.  It has two moons, Phobos and Deimos,
while we have one moon.  5. It has the largest known volcano in the
solar system, Olympus Mons.


-----------
From: April Weyand
Subject: CHALLENGE QUESTION

Alisha Dock is a fifth grade student from Giddings Elementary School at
1010 East Industry, Giddings, TX 78942 who answers CQ #6.  What five
features make Mars most like Earth?  And, what five features make Mars
most unlike Earth?  Mars and Earth both have scientists that want to
find out more about them.  They are both round.  They both have
volcanoes on them.  They both have craters.  These are the ways that
they are the same.  The ways that they are different is that Mars
doesn't have life and Earth does.  Mars has two moons and Earth has
only one.  Mars is red and Earth is mostly blue because about 3/4 of it
is water.  Mars doesn't have malls to shop at or houses to live in like
the Earth. Mars is farther away from the sun than Earth.  These are
some of the differences between Mars and Earth.  Alisha Dock


------------

Grade 4S at East School in New Philadelphia, OH, has come up with answers
to your challenge questions.
Mars is most like Earth:
     It has polar ice caps.
     It has seasons.
     It has valleys and canyons.
     Its days are near 24 hours.
     It has an atmosphere.

Mars is unlike Earth:
     It is red.
     It is smaller.
     It has two moons.
     It has no known life.
     It has no surface water.

     Our class enjoyed the live broadcast. We are looking forward to July
4.

Miss Steadman's class, Grade 4, East Elementary School, New Philadelphia,
OH

Ruth Steadman
New Philadelphia, OH

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Organization:  REDEEMING LOVE CHRISTIAN CENTER

The students of Love Christian Academy's 8th Grade, 13-14 yrs. old

Five Features Making Mars and Earth Alike:

1. They both have rocks, sand, mountains, valleys, volcanoes and
polar caps.

2.  They both have a similar length of hours in the day.  Earth
almost 24 hours and Mars a little longer than 24 hours.  But both
real close!!

3.  They both have carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

4. They both have seasons.

5. They both have moons.

The five differences between Mars and the Earth.

1. Earth has oxygen and Mars doesn't.

2. Earth has visible liquid water, Mars apparently does not have
liquid water.

3.  Mars has not sent a spaceship to land on Earth!! Earth has sent
probes to land on Mars.

4. Earth is larger than Mars and closer to the sun.

5. The winds of Mars cause bright streaks in the Hesperic Planum in
the late summer, and fall cyclones occur.  On Earth the winds do not
cause bright streaks.

-------------
From: Stephanie Wong

CQ #6: What five features make Mars most like Earth? And, what
five features make Mars most unlike Earth?

Mars is like Earth because:
-they both rotate once around its axis in about 24 hours.
-they both have deserts. (Mars is mostly made of deserts.)
-they are terrestial planets (made of same materials-carbon and silicon
rocks).
-they have an atmosphere composed of about the same elements. [oxygen 
(Mars little, Earth a lot), carbon dioxide (Mars a lot, Earth little),
nitrogen (Earth)]
-both planets have polar icecaps. (Earth's icecap made of frozen water,
Mars' possibly made of frozen carbon dioxide.

Mars is unlike Earth because:
-Mars has no water.
-Mars gravitational pull is only 1/3 of Earth.
-Mars has 2 moons, Deimos (9.5 miles long) and Phobos (17 miles long),
while the Earth only has the Moon (2160 miles in diameter).
-the surface color of Mars is a reddish color because the surface has a
lot of iron oxide; Earth is blue and green (water and trees).
-Mars has no life!

-------------
From: April Weyand


The following students in my fifth grade science class would like to
submit the following answers to the five features that make Mars most
like Earth and the features that make them different:

MARCUS LARA, GIDDINGS, TX writes: They are both round, they are both in
space, they both rotate around the sun, they are both planets and they
are both part of the universe.  They are different, Mars is bloody red,
Mars does not have people, Mars does not have schools, Mars does not
have the Internet, and Mars does not have me on it.

KASEY WALTHER, GIDDINGS, TX writes: They are alike- Mars is not made
out of gas and the Earth isn't either.  They both have North and South
Poles.  They are both round.  They both have ice caps.  They both have
craters.  They are unlike- Mars has two moons and Earth doesn't.  There
are living things on Earth now and not on Mars yet.  You cannot
breathe on Mars and you can on Earth.  Mars is red and the Earth is
not.  There are houses on Earth but not on Mars.

--------
From: April Weyand

JESSICA HERNANDEZ, GIDDINGS ELEM., GIDDINGS,TX writes:  Mars and Earth
are alike.  They both have light, they both have dirt and rocks, they
both have solar wind, they are both solid and they both go around the
sun. Differences: Mars is not as big as Earth, Mars has 687 days in a
year and Earth has 365 days, Mars has 24.6 hours in a day and Earth has
24 (that is, in Earth time.), Mars is 4th to the sun and Earth is third,
Mars is 228 Million km away from the sun and Earth is 150 Million km
away.


----------
From: Darlene Taylor
Subject:  Challenge Question #6

Our answer to the question is:

Similarities between Mars and Earth:

1.  Mars and Earth have about equal amount of land area not covered
by water.

2.  Both have mountains, canyons and volcanoes.

3. Because of similar rotation and axis, their days are almost equal
length and both possess seasons. (Although Mars' seasons are almost
double the time of Earth's seasons)

4.  Both possess atmospheres and both are inner rocky planets.

5.  Both have had vehicles driven on them controlled by humans!!


Differences:

1. No liquid water, no plants or life now existing on Mars.

2. Mars is about half the size of Earth.

3. Atmosphere is thinner on Mars, containing less oxygen and more
carbon dioxide than on Earth.

4. Mars is farther away from the Sun, which helps to make it a colder
planet than Earth.

5. Mars has only one-tenth Earth's mass, two-thirds its density, and
weak surface gravity-just over a third that on Earth.

-------------

To: David Rabanus
 Possible Answers:

 1.On Mars we have got volcanism. On Earth, too.

 2. Mars has got a moon (phobos).
 Earth, too (moon).

 3.  Mars' rotational axis is tilted about 25 deg to the normal of the
solar
 ecliptic. Earth's rotational axis about the same (e.g., 23 deg).
 So there are seasons on both planets.

 4.  There is strong evidence that there were oceans on Mars.
 Maybe there is also strong evidence that in the future there will have
been
 oceans on Earth, too (let's try not to let it come so far...).

 5. On Earth we know that there is life.
 How long will it last to know if there is or was life on Mars?

  Greetings, David.