In this lesson students explore the idea of finding traces of life on Mars. They look at evidence in meteorites and explore conditions on Mars that might support life. This is the sixth in a series of interactive student lessons from the Martian Sun Times. Full description.

This series of animations depicts the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) in various stages of its current mission. Videos are divided into: Launch and Cruise; Entry, Descent and Landing on Mars; and Exploring the Martian Surface. Full description.

This series of modules integrates printable images of Mars into classroom activities. Four broad topics cover the exploration of Mars and the Pathfinder missions, the great Martian floods and the Pathfinder landing site, the canyon Valles Marineris, and water on Mars. Each topic has several discrete activities associated with it that can be used independently. There are supporting materials for teachers ... Full description.

This collection of images of the famous "Grand Canyon of Mars" was taken by the Mars Global Surveyor. Each image is accompanied by a detailed caption. Full description.

This Nine Planets page contains details about the planet Mars. Information includes planet diameter, mass, distance from the Sun, orbit, and mythology. Also covered are planet composition, surface features, atmosphere and magnetic field data, temperature on the planet, and results from exploration spacecraft. Phobos and Deimos (Mars satellites) are also covered in depth. The site provides links to ... Full description.

This product includes five classroom activities related to the discovery of water ice on Mars. In 2001, the Mars Odyssey spacecraft discovered significant amounts of water ice buried in the high latitude regions of Mars. This discovery, based upon data from the Mars Gamma Ray Spectrometer, helped motivate the development of the Mars Phoenix Lander mission, which arrived in the Martian arctic in 2008 ... Full description.

This is an introduction in a series of activities on Mars that use images as integral parts of the lesson. Students are introduced to the images and begin a Mars journal. The purpose is to probe students' understanding of Mars to give the teacher a sense of the students' particular interests, misconceptions, and general understanding of Mars, the solar system, and space exploration. Full description.

This educational module is designed to teach students about models and data collection and analysis using a Mars Mission as an example. The activities in this module require students to gather observations and data and use this to generate a model that illustrates a real object, in this case, the surface topography of a landing site on Mars. This module allows for students to have increasingly sophisticated ... Full description.

During the first of two landings in the Mars Exploration Rover mission, scientists and engineers were full of anticipation and anxiety the night that the rover 'Spirit' was due to land. Would the rover land safely and be able to complete its mission to find out about the geological history of the planet? This video segment shows the range of emotions experienced by NASA scientists and technicians ... Full description.

This lesson plan is part of the DiscoverySchool.com lesson plan library for grades 6-8. It focuses on a manned mission to the planet Mars, and how characteristics of this planet are challenging our existing technology. Students research the problems of sending a manned mission and then design a vehicle for travel on Mars surface. It includes objectives, materials, procedures, discussion questions, ... Full description.