Thematic Activities
Exploring Meteorite Mysteries
http://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/ares/education/otherprograms/expmetmys.cfm
Teachers and scientists designed this book to engage sudents in inquiry science and to extend science with interdisciplinary connections. The study of meteorites provides a unifying theme that links most every aspect of Earth and Planetary Science with Mathmatics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. The effects of meteorite impacts have serious implications for social science.
The activities in this book are designed for upper elementary to high school level children.
Meteorites, Clues to Solar System History gives a borad introduction to many aspects of meteorite science. It tells the story of solar system history from the formation of the planets to catastrophic impacts on earth. It helps the students learn how scientists use studies of these rocks from space to decipher that history.
Exploring The Moon
http://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/ares/education/otherprograms/exploremoon.cfm
These materials have been designed for use in upper elementary through high schools especially, but not exclusively, with the Lunar Sample Disk.
The Moon: Gateway to the Solar System provides background information about the Moon. It Tells the story of the Moon's geological history and how scientists try to decipher the story. Theis background informaiton may be useful reading for students as well.
Classroom activities promote problem solving, communication skills, and teamwork. Each activity consists of teacher pages and reporducible student sheets. The activities are divided into three units: Pre-Apollo, Learning from Apollo, and the Future.
Destination Mars
http://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/ares/education/otherprograms/destinationmars.cfm
The lessons in this package are designed to increase students' knowledge, awareness, and curiosity about the process of scientific exploration of Mars. As scientists look for evidence of life on Mars, they will focus much of their search in areas where volcanic heat and water interacted early in the geologic history of the planet.
Two lessons in this packet on volcanoes and mapping river channels reinforce these basic geologic processes. These lessons lead directly to a set of simple activities that help students develop an understanding of the microbial life scientists will be searching for on Mars.
The hands-on, interdisciplinary activities reinforce and extend important concepts within existing curricula.
Fingerprints of Life
http://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/ares/education/otherprograms/fingerprints.cfm
The astrobiology research at JSC is dedicated to identifying specific indicators of past or present biological activity in rocks, soil, and other samples. The study of extreme environments, Earth samples, and Mars meteorites is the research focus.
ARES Education provides and maintain classroom activities and on-line Internet resources that are user friendly and beneficial to both the educator and the student.
Exploring the Solar System
Explore explanations and theories about the formation of our solar system and the role of comets, asteroids and meteorites in the process.
Activities in this area are focused on how these small bodies played a key role in the evolution of our solar system.