For Teachers

Time sensitive additions: Please email me if you find broken links: usingrs@gmail.com

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In this section, I will add and remove older links that I have found fun, educational, ready-made, easy to use, hopefully interactive. The links include: date accessed, URL, and a brief note. Please contact me with other resources. 

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9/23/23 Alternative/nonJMARS activities: Just beginning? You may want to start with hands on activities provided by the  Universities Space Research Association, USRA, and the Lunar and Planetary Institute,  (Note: the first dot in the last link activities section have broken links as of 9 23.23)
 

2/3/23 Great intro to the Geography of Mars video 17 min, 2020: Intro to Areography | The Geography of Mars

 

12/4/21AN ATLAS OF MARS SEDIMENTARY ROCKS AS SEEN BY HIRISE  https://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~shane/publications/beyer_etal_spem_2012.pdf. This is a beautiful 47 page display of tantalizing beautiful high resolution images of Mars. It is great for question stimulation. 

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12/4/21 2012 work on the geology of Mars  http://geosci.uchicago.edu/~kite/doc/Sedimentary_Geology_of_Mars_SEPM_Special_Publication_102_SP102_2011_Grotzinger_and_Milliken_eds.pdf

 

11/14/21 Click on the the Lunar and Planetary Institute Menu to explore many resources including this end of unit game. Explore - Mars: Inside and Out!    https://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/explore/mars/over_mars/ or Educators resource  or Vetted Middle School Resources 

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11/14/21 131 pages of  Mars Activities by Nasa  Many activities that can be used and /or adapted for many levels https://mars.nasa.gov/classroom/pdfs/MSIP-MarsActivities.pdf

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10/21/21 Need to start at beginning. It opens at the end of the video... 3 min video about "new Evidence of Recent (geologically speaking) Venusian Volcanism" Russell-Johnson published 8/13/2021. Get ready for 3 future missions to Mars! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im27n1HORTQ&t=172s

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10/01/21 INTERACTIVE MAPPING of MARS This is a fun interactive exercise (the tutorial tab) where users learn about mars features that are similar to Earth's in a sentence or two and then pick which of ~3 images fits the descriptions. Auto corrected with comments. There is also a "Features Examples" tab that has many Mars images of the features.  Some of the labels are wrong.

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8/19/21 Vinegar Plus Baking Soda Volcano Eruption in a Vacuum Chamber   6 min. This video demonstrates how the well known volcano eruption model would be different in low pressure like on Mars. 

 

8/3/21 The Cosmic Companion hosted Dr. Kirsten Siebach. She is amazing. She is a Martian Geochemist and is one of those who is driving the Perseverance rover. This short video with her helps us understand what we are doing on Mars with Perseverance. see the sections: intro 1.46, talk: 2:21- 15:26.  Also Her 10 min video: Voyage to Mars Red Planet Chemistry 2018  is simple, articulate and fascinating.

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7/28/21 Allison Carson maybe going to Mars, if her dream comes true. Google her, watch her Ted talk, follow her on her webpage https://nasablueberry.com/ or LinkedIn page, or read her book (2018), which is free on a Kindle: So you want to be an Astronaut 

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7/25/21 https://www.rocketstem.org/ a source, rich in information, pictures and activities: "Mars 2020 Exploration Mission Guide, a special issue of RocketSTEM magazine. We are devoting the entire issue to informing you about the upcoming mission to the Red Planet, which will include the first-ever interplanetary helicopter. Whereas NASA’s traditional launch guide is targeted to journalists, our Mars Mission Guide is created specifically for the public at large with content for all ages. We’ve included an in-depth look at the Mars 2020 mission featuring the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter, as well as background on the Red Planet and past exploration missions. We’ve added in our own fun twists with a photo gallery of the lead up to the launch, a crossword puzzle, word search, and two of our exclusive quizzes. All that – and more – in the Mars 2020 Exploration Mission Guide." 

 

7/16/21 The Atlas Of Mars  2019. Authored by some of the best Mars scientists. It might be a good classroom resource book for ~$30. However, even the "see inside" view gives wonderful images, most of which are available on JMARS. 

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7/16/21 a National Geographic 4 min intro video to Mars. It is a few years old but is a good place to begin a decision about Mars. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/video/mars-101/

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7/6/21 Geology Earth and Mars features matching card game. printable. Answer key included. http://clearinghouse.starnetlibraries.org/astronomy-and-space/54-mars-match-game.html

 

6/15/21 CRISM: Exploring the Geology of Mars https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/20241/crism-exploring-the-geology-of-mars/  An excellent 4 min review of a Christina Beck's study using CRISM data to figure out whether the Valles Marineris  was created by extension and or extension and strike slip faulting. clear, non-technical.

 

6/15/21 geology of Mars webniar 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTh-HemASis This is an hours long but the best webinar I have seen on the geology of Mars. For me it answers so many questions and, at the end, cautioned: Matt Balme comments at 1:10:28 ” it is hard not to bring your preconceptions with you.” This is so true about studying Mars!

“Virtual Treasure Hunt” Hunt for the treasures as the video progresses. 

 

6/10/21 Why Mars:

https://mars.nasa.gov/#mars_exploration_program/3, https://www.marssociety.org/why-mars/,

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/mars-exploration-article

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6/9/21 Is it possible to terraform Mars? What do you think? Two sides: 

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/goddard/2018/mars-terraforming 

vs:

https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a34738932/elon-musk-glass-domes-terraforming-mars/#:~:text=In%20a%20reply%20to%20a,they'll%20likely%20die.

 

6/8/21 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JIE5JVTorQ excellent clear intro to the geology of Mars and minerals.

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6/6/21 https://simoc.space/ This is a interative model for high school. you can play as a guest. You do not have to register. It is from National Geographic SIMOC is a Scalable, Interactive Model of an Off-world Community. Through the SIMOC web interface you will configure and then test a Mars habitat of your design. You will select food rations, life support, solar panels and batteries, crew quarters and greenhouse, and plants to clean the air and provide food. Set your model in motion and learn if your astronauts make it ... or not! As an iterative research tool, SIMOC encourages you to make adjustments and try again until you find the right combination to sustain your mission on Mars. Also see https://simoc.space/education/classroom-lessons/  

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4/6/21 Mars in a Minute: What's Inside Mars? This is not interactive but concise. This is a brief video (2018) about how we know what Mars is like on the inside from seismology, temperature readings, and wobble tendencies. However, the discussion about what's inside Mars is far from over. Mars’s core has been measured — and its surprisingly large . 

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3/10/2021 Virtual Spectroscopy Lab  Clearly, beautifully, simply, quickly, interactively, effectively, and  briefly demonstrates a few basic concepts including identifying a few unknown minerals for practice. https://sites.google.com/view/virtualspectroscopylab/home?authuser=0

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2/22/21 Mars as Art  Beautiful falsely colored images of Mars. https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/24860/mars-as-art-2013/

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2/20/21 https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/where-is-the-rover/.  There is nothing to do here, but you can see where Perseverance is and where it has been.

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2/17/21 Lesson plan about minerals and matter  2 urls for same plan : 1 and 2  Using JMARS data to look at sediment and mineral 

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2/13/2021 https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/explore-mars/en/ simple scratch coding game for collecting data with Perseverance on Mars.