This article discusses the necessity of locating water ice as astronauts explore the solar system, for oxygen and fuel as well as for drinking. Topics include the possible occurrence of ice at the lunar poles and in comets, and some of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) missions to locate it. Full description.

This information about the Lunar Prospector mission to the Moon discusses the possibility that ice exists on the lunar surface. The article indicates that no native water ice has been found on the moon. If ice has been found, it most likely originated from meteors and meteorites which periodically bombard the lunar surface. Full description.

This site presents clues to suggest that liquid water once flowed on Mars - raising hopes that life could have arisen there - but the evidence remains inconclusive and sometimes contradictory. Full description.

In this activity, students construct a "comet" from ingredients similar to those found in actual comets. They will learn about the behavior of a real comet by observing their model as the dry ice sublimates, and understand the concept of scale as they compare the size of their model to the size of a real comet. A list of materials and instructions are provided. This activity can be performed as a ... Full description.

This 2-3 week module, based on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Cassini mission to Saturn, uses the mission as a context for learning fundamental science/math concepts. It consists of six standards-based, constructivist lessons, enrichment activities, and supplemental material such as questions and answers, a glossary, and a chart of Cassini's position in the sky. Full description.

This NASA Module investigation compares and contrasts physical processes that occur on Both Earth and Mars. Students are given unidentified images of Earth and Mars. Their task is to arrange the images into pairs that show evidence of similar physical processes. Then they identify each image as one of Earth or of Mars by comparing and contrasting physical features that they observe in the image pairs. ... Full description.

In this lesson, students learn about meteors, meteorites, and comets by reading and discussing a related New York Times article about the Leonid meteor showers and the methods that scientists are using to learn from these meteors. Students then create and observe a comet in their classroom. Full description.

In this activity, students download NASA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images of the Martian polar ice caps in summer and winter. Using image processing techniques, students measure and compare various images of the changing Martian and Earth polar ice caps. By completing this activity, they will understand that the sizes of the polar ice caps on Earth and Mars depend on the lengths of the seasons. ... Full description.