The Mars Student Imaging Project (MSIP) allows students to participate in research, mapping activities, and labs relating to Mars exploration. The program, run by Arizona State University, offers students nationwide the opportunity to conduct authentic Mars research using data from the 2001 Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) camera. There are downloadable curriculum with National ... Full description.

This set of lessons is designed to increase students' knowledge, awareness, and curiosity about the process of scientific exploration of Mars. Topics include navigating to Mars, investigating Martian soils and geology, mapping Martian landforms, and searching for signs of life. A video is also available to accompany the lessons. Full description.

This interactive activity lets you launch a spacecraft from Earth and see if it hits Mars. To do so, you need to launch the spacecraft at the right time, and the program calculates the thrust and direction. Full description.

This map of Mars permits users to zoom and pan across the planet's surface. One can select three views, including a shaded relief map, photographic mosaic (visible spectrum), or an infrared mosaic. The map is searchable by regions, spacecraft landing sites, feature types (mountains, dunes, etc.), or by keyword. More than 100 features are marked with "pushpins" and pop-up windows that provide information ... Full description.

This lesson plan introduces students to some common map projections and representations (e.g. globes or close-ups) and asks them to consider the ways that each representation can be used to show specific features of Mars. Students will draw three different representations of Mars and will illustrate each one with details of research they have conducted on the planet. Full description.

This interactive activity shows pictures from Earth and Mars and asks you to guess which planet each one is from. The pictures include volcanos, sand dunes, and red dunes, etc. The activity is fun and educational. Full description.

NASAs Mars Odyssey detected water ice in the northern hemisphere. During the winter months, the icy soil is covered by a thick layer of carbon dioxide (dry ice) frost obscuring the water ice signature.This animation is match-framed to #2779 and #2780. Its purpose is to establish a frame of reference using a true color dataset. In this case, that data is from Viking. Full description.

Students will learn that Mars, and each planet in the solar system, is unique due to the materials from which it is made and the processes that shaped it. Images and information from Mars exploration voyages, including the Viking Mission in 1975, the Pathfinder Landing in 1997, the Mars Global Surveyor project, the Mars Odyssey and Mars Express spacecrafts, the Mars Exploration Rovers, and the Reconnaissance ... Full description.

The European Space Agency's Mars Express Satellite has recorded images in three different bands of the southern polar cap of Mars, which show both frozen carbon dioxide and water ice. The images are presented with a brief caption and links to other Mars Express imagery and status reports. Full description.

Mars Landing is part of an online series of modules entitled Exploring the Environment. Emphasizing an integrated approach to environmental Earth Science education through problem-based learning, this module asks students to choose the most appropriate landing site on Mars by consulting low-resolution and high-resolution images. First, students must learn to enhance digital images in practice sessions ... Full description.