Exploring Mars (A Think)

The Washington Post has an article this morning about the Mars rover, Opportunity. Opportunity is about to reach a huge crater. The article explains that Steven Squyres of Cornell University, principal investigator for the rovers' science instruments, said "Exploring Victoria is something we joked and fantasized about but never really thought we could realistically get to it... This is the absolutely highest-priority destination we could have reached." According to the article, "The scientists think Victoria Crater is the kind of geological formation that can tell them a great deal about Mars's history, and especially about whether and when water may have covered parts of the planet. Water is essential for life as we know it."

Lesson Ideas:
1. Tell students that before scientists conduct experiments they often try to determine what they might see. This is called a null hypothesis. Tell students to pretend that they are working with the group of scientists operating the rover Opportunity from Earth. They have been asked to develop a null hypothesis as to what they will see when they get the pictures that Opportunity takes at Victoria Crater. You might ask students to write these ideas on a blog.
2. Like all government agencies, NASA needs a lot of money to keep operating. NASA administrators often ask Congress for allocations of money. Ask students how they think that the success of these two Mars rovers might effect NASA's desire for an increased budget. You might actually have students develop a script of a conversation to take place between the chair of the Congressional committee responsible for allocating funds and the top NASA administrator concerning the influence that the rovers' success should have on NASA's budget.
3. Humankind loves exploring. Tell students to imagine that they had the opportunity to explore anywhere in the world. Where would they want to explore? Why would they want to explore here? You might even give students an opportunity to imagine what they would find at this site and draw a map of it. This activity could prompt some creativity.
4. NASA has a website full of resources about the Mars' mission. Ask students to take a look at two or three of the pictures on this site and write a paragraph explaining what they see. Students might ask questions to prompt further thinking in the paragraph, as well.

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